Drywall

Primer.

Primer will usually do the trick. I bet you're referring to how smooth the paint looks over the spackle and the rest of the wall has the texture from the roller, right? Hit those areas again with the roller and it will build up the texture from the knap of the roller - it may take a couple of times.

Some things to look at:

-Texture: There might be a slight texture difference between the spackled area and the rest of the wall. Apply primer and dab at it with a rag or swipe with a drywall knife, etc. Whatever it takes to make it look like whatever was done to the rest of the wall.

-Shrinkage: Spackle will shrink just a bit when drying - not like wall board joint compound, but a bit nonetheless. Apply more Spackle proud of the wall, let dry thoroughly, and sand smooth.

-Backing: If the hole is not all the way through the wall (e.g. you have plaster screen or more wood to which the holy wall is mounted), you should not have a problem here. Wooding siding or dry wall could stand something to back up your patch. Wadding a bit of newspaper into the hole (or something fire resistant!) will provide that. Some sort of plug wedged in just shy of the surface is another way.

mahalo, jo4hn [Fine furniture and inlays courtesy of *Spackle* and a Sawz-all.]

alt.home.repair

Here's the long answer:

On my last project, I used water based primer. During rolling, the roller picked up the dusts and pulled off the spackle. That left the edges full of small pits. When the primer dried, the patch shrinked. It was nice and flat before priming.

I would probably > Got another renovation problem...

it was your application technique; not the product that resulted in problems, Sean. Zillions of gallons of water based primer are applied over fresh spackling and drywall mud without incident. the fact that the patch shrank AFTER you applied primer indicates you didn't let the patch cure...

dave

Sean D> On my last project, I used water based primer. During rolling, the roller picked

Ooooooh, level 5....What's that? Tom Someday, it'll all be over....

PVA, polyvinyl acetate. It is a primer used on spackle. When you are filling and repairing with spackle, check your work using a trouble light against the wall before thinking about any paint--you'll see your mistakes!

That's wood glue, should you not have the primer available. Dilute 1:5 for application.

If you have a sponge handy, you can use it for "texturing" a bit while feathering by blotting the surface of the spackled area.