How to fix a hole in the wall??

[J. Cameron Davis]

I have an air conditioner installed through the wall in my house. I plan to remove it and need to close the hole. I'd like to do it myself rather than pay someone but have no idea how to go about it. The house has aluminum siding outside, and I have some spare pieces. The inside will eventually be finished with drywall. The sides of the opening are framed. Do I need to add a vertical piece of 2X4 at the center of the hole to support the drywall? Do I just cut a piece of plywood and nail it on the outside? If so do I put anything over the plywood or just put the siding on top of it? In other words, I don't have a clue and could use some expert advice. Thanks.

[MrAoD]

Short answer is pay someone to do it unless your time is worth less than $20/hr, especially since your learning curve is going to be high. I don't say that to be disrespectful of either your skills or your intelligence, I say that as a full-time employed father of a five year old. Jobs I used to do in my copious spare time (which vanished with Jr's arrival) I now hire folks for.

The size of the hole, if it's typical of a thru-the-wall AC unit, doesn't dictate a 2x4 cross-member. You can frame in (out?) the rough cavity on the sides and top/bottom with 2x4 pieces to attach both the interior drywall and the exterior wall.

What you use to close the opening on the exterior depends on what the rest of the construction. Exterior grade plywood at the minimum or OSB, and if you can overlap the seam with tyvek or other housewrap. The joint between the new material and the rest of the exterior wall won't be airtight unless you use the housewrap, not sure if that's anything you care about.

Before drywalling put in insulation appropriate to your climate. R-15/20. Vapor barrier if you're not using housewrap, skip if you are.

Drywall and mud as necessary.

Dunno where you're located but I could probably pay someone around here (Northern VA) are about $2-300 to have it done, which would be worth it to me.

Best,

Marc

[Chris Patton]

"MrAoD" wrote

Whoa, you don't skip a vapor barrier when using an air/moisture barrier. These are 2 totally different materials. If you skip the vapor barrier, rest assured you will have a mold problem.

[Joseph Meehan]

Vapor barrier is needed with our without housewrap. Housewrap is not a vapor barrier. By design, housewrap prevents water from passing while allowing vapor to pass.

Other than that I agree.

[MrAoD]

Thanks for catching the mistake guys.

EBKAC, hadn't had enough coffee at the time of the OP.

Best,

Marc

[Joseph Meehan]

We all make errors. Only chose with real character are willing to admit it.