Closing Up A Drywall Cutout ?

[Robert11]

Hello,

Have a hole cut in a drywall wall in bathroom that was cut to get at a leaking pipe. It's about 12" x 8" or so.

I guess the best thing would be to cut a new piece of drywall of approx. the same dimensions to fill up most of the cutout before replastering.

But, there's no stud behind the cutout to nail it to.

So, what's the best way to close up the hole ?

Tape doesn't sound so good, as it's a pretty big opening, I think, to span without some support.

If anyone has done any repair like this, or can offer any fairly specific suggestions (also, re brands of patching compound, and type to use) I would be most appreciative.

Thanks, Bob

[SteveB]

• Cut a couple of pieces of thin wood about six inches wider than your hole. I've used paint stirrers, but something about 1/2" thick would be better. Screws might split the thin wood. * Put the strips inside the wall, spanning the hole, so about 3" is behind the wallboard on each side. Drive a screw or two through the wallboard and into the strip on each side. Some adhesive wouldn't hurt. It will look like this:

+------------+ | | +-----+------------+-----+ | * * | | * * | +-----+------------+-----+ | | | | | | | | +-----+------------+-----+ | * * | | * * | +-----+------------+-----+ | | +------------+

• Cut a wallboard patch to fit the hole. * Screw the patch to the wood strips. Again, some adhesive wouldn't hurt. * Use wallboard mud to hide your repair. You get to express your artsy-fartsy side here. I hope you're more artsy than fartsy. :-)

[aemeijers]

Best method is to patch stud-to-stud, but that would require buying more drywall, which is a pain to haul, and then what do you do with the rest of the sheet? For a small hole, if you kept the plug you cut out, use splint boards on the backside. Some 3/4x2 lathe is plenty. Cut a couple sticks longer than the hole, and hold them against the backside of the hole while you put in drywall screws through the drywall outside the area of the hole, into the lathe. You can then screw the plug you cut out to the splints. Feather the edges of the hole and the plug slightly to avoid bumps in the patch. Any of the DIY books or websites about drywall work will have pictures that explains this better than words can. Just Google on 'patching holes in drywall'.

But having said all that- if the hole is someplace where it won't show (like a closet), I'd just install a painted masonite cover over it, for the next time the plumbing needs to be worked on. If I ever get rich enough to build a house, I'll lay it out so all the wet walls have access plates on the back side. (I really hate patching drywall...)

-- aem sends...

[Nate Nagel]

How it's typically done by a pro is to get a small piece of steel stud and drywall screw it across the opening. then take your patch and screw that to the stud, then tape and mud as usual.

nate

[Phisherman]

There are a few methods to fix this. Make a brace with a 16"x4" piece of ply set inside the wall across the hole and fasten with drywall screws on each end. Insert the patch and fasten to the brace. Tape, mud, sand, mud, sand, prime, and paint.

[HeyBub]

If there's a chance the pipe will need future access, such as the hole providing access to the bathtub's fixtures, you might consider hiding the hole rather than patching it.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Open the hole to a stud and nail it. You can do small holes with tape but when you get larger piece I'd rather see a screw to wood in at least one place.

[Wayne Boatwright]

On Sun 27 Jul 2008 06:56:26p, Edwin Pawlowski told us...

You could also mount 1x2's to the backside of the existing drywall that span just beyond the opening, screwed through the existing drywall, then screw the patch to the installed 1x2'.

The method could depend on how large the replacement needs to be.

[gpsman]

The real trick is in crafting the patching piece.

You don't try to cut a patch to fit the hole, you cut out an oversize patch (beveling the edges to be smaller on the inside), trace around that, then cut out the hole to be patched to fit that patch piece.

Works every time, if you do it right. -----

- gpsman

[David Nebenzahl]

On 7/28/2008 12:04 AM gpsman spake thus:

Or you could cut a "dutchman", where you start with an oversize piece and leave a couple inches of paper only around the whole piece that cover the edges. Kind of like a self-taping patch.

[terry]

Bridge across the inside of the cut, within the wall cutout with some wood strips etc. screw or glue them to each side of the hole. If you can get the bridging along at least two of the edges would be good; but not essential. And/or jam some two by foyr etc, same thickness a wall into the gap to screw fill-in piece of new wall board to. Buy or scrounge a piece of drywall (we always keep a few bits on hand anyway) and cut to fit cut out. Screws better than nails (or even some glue to hold the bridging against the adjacent drywall or even the adjacent studs! Cos then you are not pounding nails into the wall where there are no supporting studs. Finish drywall by normal taping and plastering; repaint wall etc.

[Tekkie®]

Robert11 posted for all of us...

Really did a lot of research on this huh? Geez

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