So I posted a few hours ago about my puppy chewing up my wall and was asking how to fix the hole. I figure I would give more detail about it now that I have a better idea of how to explain the wall itself.
First there is the brick, which is obviously Brick of some kind. The next layer is not really as much as is seems to be something like butcher paper between the brick and then the typical wall material. Third is the wall material, what ever the white material is, not certain. Last is the paint from what I can see.
I was told so far a few different ways of plater, stucko, horse-hair plater ect. Would I find these things at home depot? And what would the cost run?
What makes you think it's stucco? Stucco is very bumpy.
HD does not have horse-hair but I have a horse you can use if you want to.
They have the other stuff and materials will be very little. It's getting things on as smooth as they oriiginally were that may be difficult. You've never said how big this space is, or if you have matching paint, or how much more you'll have to paint if you have to buy paint that doesn't quite match. .
Forget those. In your other thread, Mayayana gave you the best procedure...
"I would use Durabond 45 or 90 for a first coat. It's hard, setting-type joint compound that provides strength but isn't really sandable. Then use regular coumpound for a finish coat. Then sand it. You'll need a couple of spreading blades. The smoother you can get it, the less you'll have to sand."
If you ask for plaster at HD/Lowes you will likely wind up with something that looks like a half gallon milk carton for about $9.00. If you ask for setting compound, you'll get a much larger quantity of what's in the milk carton for about the same price.
The "45 or 90" in the quote above refers to how long in minutes the material remains useable before it sets up. To use it, mix with water following the instructions on the container. Mix well, it is rather like mixing water and cornstarch...both tend to clump. You want a smooth, creamy mixture but not a runny one...you want it to "stand up".
To apply it, use a broadknife - cheap plastic ones are OK for this - to spread the compound into the hole. You didn't say the size of the hole but a broadknife 3" - 6" should be OK. When applying, sort of wipe the compound into the hole by wiping it on the edges of the hole so you can force it in, then fill in the center. If you get compound on the good part of the wall, wipe it off with a damp sponge.
Ideally, you would not quite fill the hole, leave it 1/16" or so low. When the compound is dry you would then fair off the remaining depth with regular drywall compound. Unlike the setting compound, the "regular" is premixed with water and is not water proof. You can get it either for "taping" or "finishing" or "all purpose"; either is OK, fnishing would be better for your purpose. A container will cost $4 - $14.
Your goal is to fill the remaining depth of the hole with this material so the hole winds up flush with the undamaged surface. Apply it with the widest spreading tool you have, guiding the application by resting half of the tool on the undamaged surface. If the sizes of the hole and tool allow you to fill in one pass, great; if not make no more than two passes, both in the same direction (horizontally doing top and bottom OR vertically doing sides). If two passes won't fill the hole, wait overnight for what you applied to dry then do the rest.
When the patch is all dry, sand lightly with #150 paper to assure flatness and smoothness; once sanded, you may have to skim with compond again, wait, sand.
DadiOH provided very clear and complete instructions. You might even print those out and take them to home Depot.
**And don't let a Home Depot clerk talk you into something else. Occasionally they know what they're talking about but generally it's not a good idea to ask advice from lumber yard and hardware store clerks. If they knew they wouldn't be Home Depot clerks.**
(Better to ask advice from anonymous wiseacres in newsgroups. :)
I didn't realze how many ways one might be led astray about wall patching until I saw all the sidetracks about horsehair and stucco! Forget those terms altogether. They're irrelevant here. And "plaster", as DadiOH said, is not what you want. The wall material is usually called plaster as a generic term, but if you buy "plaster" you'll likely get one of 3 things: plaster of paris, patching plaster, or big bags of plaster for skim-coating walls. None of those would be a good choice for what you're doing.
Buy a small box of polyfilla powder and a small box of plaster of paris. Mix 1 cup of each, dry. Add water intill smoth thick putty. Apply with spreader knife. Smooth with damp knife. Let dry Sand. Repeat if necessary, using fresh mix (couple spoons full at a time). Do NOT get partly cured material mixed in with fresh batch/. Under $20 and you'll have material left over unless it is a BIG patch.
Plaster sets fast, and the OP is inexperienced. I think he needs something more forgiving than plaster, at least for filling the hole. Maybe plaster as a skim coat over a setting compound.
I was thinking of a premixed setting compound but I'm not sure there is a good one out there, probably he's better off mixing his own with the Durabond stuff.
I've seen structolite recommended too but I've never used it.
I agree that Spackle may be a bit easier to use...but like I said, unless there is only a tiny area to patch, it will require several applications due to shrinkage and cracking.
When I first moved into my house many years ago I had to do some patching with plaster and even though I had never done it before, it turned out fairly well. No problems in 35 years at least.
I only use Durabond for plastering under sinks. It's practically concrete, and water won't hurt it. Better she get patching plaster. It'll say "Patching Plaster" on the container. She should get the pre-mixed in a plastic tub. Depending on the size of the hole, it may take more than one application, filling from the edges to the center. As you said, just under the wall surface. Then finish it with finishing plaster. It'll say "Finishing Plaster" on the container. Same deal, get it premixed in a plastic tub. Or if you can find a small pre-mixed container that says "Drywall Compound" that works on plaster too and usually sands easier. Be sure to prime before painting. The patch sucks paint up. Spackle brand has worked for me, many times. You want to avoid powders for small jobs. They sell Spackle patching and finishing plasters in cup size containers. Get a pint of patching and a cup of finish plaster. It's a puppy. Should do it.
How can you have premixed setting compound? Setting compound is calcium sulfate, made in a similat way to cement (calcium carbonate). Add water to either and it immediately begins setting up...the water is being incorporated back into the molecular structure of the material (ir was burned off to get the powder).
"Plaster" is anything slathered on. Plaster of Paris is burned gypsum (as is setting compound; same for Durham's Rock Putty which has a bit of color added).
Do what dadio says, just be award that true plaster will set up fairly quic kly so you have to move fast. As long as the plaster surface is below the remainder of the surrounding wall, and not more than 1/8" lower than the su rrounding wall, you can use regular sandable joint cement or spackling comp ound to finish it off.
If you get in a real hurry, a hair dryer blowing hot air across the surface will speed up both the plaster setting and drying the spackling compound, but beware that a dry surface does not mean the material under it is dry an d hardened, so it is best to let the materials dry naturally before the fin al sanding. You don't want to crack the plaster because it is not fully se t up.
Do NOT try rushing a setting compund with heat. Setting compound CREATES heat as it sets. The water in the mix needs to hydrate the lime in the compound - it can't do that if you evaporate the water off. Just like concrete - you nead to let it "cure" damp.
I can't believe the level of bad advise given on this thread!!!
Someone asks a basic question and they get a few basic answers... then others feel obligated to completely complicate things to the point of obfuscation
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