Repairing large holes in drywall

[Smarty]

I have a room with 5 holes where speakers used to be mounted in the walls.

Each hole is the same size........a rectangle about 9 inches wide and about

14 inches tall.

Now that the speakers have been removed, I am left with filling these 5 holes. Cutting out new pieces of drywall to fit these 5 openings is not hard. I am wondering how to attach the drywall, since there are no studs anywhere near the cut-out openings.

Any suggestions are very much appreciated. Thank you.

Smarty

[greg6755]

Screw, through the drywall, some pieces of wood to two sides of the opening leaving half of the wood exposed in the opening. Then screw the patches to the exposed wood. Works like a charm.

[Ralph Mowery]

You take a board about 3/4 inch thick, a couple of inches wide and several inches longer than the hole is big. YOu may want to use one on each side depending on how big the hole is. Place the board behind the drywall and use some screws through the wall into the board . This holds the board behind the wall. Then you can screw the new pieces of drywall to the boards.

[krw]

Attach 1x3s with sheetrock screws to the back of the existing sheetrock. Screw the patches to the 1x3s. If you can extend the

1x3s to the studs at attach to them it's even better.

[Steve Barker]

Span the holes on the inside with a couple of 1x2's screwing them to the existing wall. Then cut a panel to fit the hole and screw it to the 1x2's.

[Whomever]

Grap two scraps of gyproc. Cut them to about 6" by 12". Scew one screw into the center of each piece. This will be your handles. Slip the piece through the hole and hold it against the back side of the 9 x 14 inch hole. Now screw it in place. Repeat . Now cut out a 9 x 14 piece and attach it to the scraps and mud..... there you go an all gyproc fix that will not shrink and crack.

Regards Dale

[Jeff Wisnia]

While screwing peices of wood behind the existing drywall is a tried and true method, don't overlook the "modern way", drywall clips which accomplish the same thing. They are sold in most building supply and hardware stores. Here's some different styles:

Jeff

[Smarty]

Boy !!! What a superb group of people here on this newsgroup !!

Thanks for the excellent suggestions. I'm really tempted to try those "Insta-back" clips after watching the video, but I'm going to try doing one of the 5 holes first using scrap material I have here to form the wood or drywall frame. Looks like it shouldn't be too difficult other than getting the final coat of mud to look smooth and blended.

Thanks aga>> >>

[scott21230]

I would be tempted to make the holes wider until you see the studs and just attach the repair piece to the studs.

[The Reverend Natural Light]

Very good advice so far.

A friend recommended leaving some extra paper on the patch piece. It's a little tricky to do. Basically, you cut the paper on the face wider on all sides than what you actually need by a half inch or so. Then you score the back side of the piece exactly the size you need and break the joint there, peeling the extra face paper away from the leftover parts.

The extra width of paper becomes the 'built in' joint tape. Mud it over top of the existing drywall surface.

This comes from someone who I imagine has punched more than his fair share of holes in walls so trust the advice.

You'd still support the patch from the back side like everyone else recommends. This is just cosmetic.

-rev

[mm]

I used to date a girl whose ex-husgband had knocked holes in the wall. Fortunately for me, I didn't feel qualified to patch sheetrock in those days. And just as well because I found out how she made him so angry.

He told me he hit the wall because he didn't want to hit her. (Usually with a doorknob. For some reaosn door stops hadn't been installed on their brand new house yet, and the doorknob would go into the wall when he was mad.

[Remi]

[Smarty]

Thanks once again to all. The advice is excellent and very much appreciated.

Smarty

[Sir Topham Hatt]