Patching and Plastering - How to get a smooth finish

Whenever I do a small drywall repair job where a new peice of drywall gets inserted into a cut-out, I have a problem witht the tape leaving a bump on the finished surface.

Is there any way to tape a butt joint and spackle it, and not have to use an excess amount of spackle to blend in the repaired area?

I've tried the mesh type as well as the plain paper type and don't seem to have much luck with either.

Thanx

Jim

google butttaper or "butt-taper" or permutations of that. I think there is a video there. What works on butts with the device will also work well on patches. It isn't cheap. if you are a diyer it would be cheaper to hire it done than to buy the tool. But then not every professional knows about the latest tool either.

Hmmmm...maybe there is no easy way out.

What I usually do is champher the edge slightly with my rasor knife to at least get the narlies off.

Oh well...time to whip out that wide 'ol taping blade again.

Thanx for the reply.

Jim

9 times out of 10 you are going to get that hump. You have to feather the hump out at least 12 inches in each direction.

I can't think of a way to avoid the hump, but it 'disappears' with enough feathering

I agree, float the mud out far enough and it won't be noticable :D

That's what I thought.

JUst that...

1. It's on the ceiling.

and

2. There's a light right smack dab next to it.

Any way I already did the job and I hit it with durabond 45, then went to lunch (2hrs.+)and when I came back it was ready for that skim coat. I did float it out at least 12" on either side. Came out pretty good.

I just thought maybe one of you veterans knew some trick of the trade.

Some of the framework on new construction in my area is so uneven it seems unimaginable that you could insert a patch in a wall or ceiling and make it disappear.

I'm not very profecient at spackling, so I look for ways to improve upon it.
And I'm really bad when I go around that 90deg. bend. ;(

Thank you all for all your advice.

Jim

Here's a differant approach that works for me.

Place a thin piece of wood like a painters stirrer into the hole and secure it with drywall screws at each end. Make sure screws go in deep enough but not too far that it breaks the paper. This will give you a support for your filler piece. Using a rasp, chanfer the four sides of the hole to take off any rough edges. Do the same with your filler piece. Place it in the hole with the chanfer side out and secure with another drywall screw. When I make repairs like this, I prefer to use one size smaller for a filler piece. Then I add spackle or plaster to fill it all in. I don't use tape at all.

Sometimes you can get away with not using tape, but the odds of cracking are quite a bit higher without it on any decent size joint.

You have to use the light fixture to your advantage..... Do your patch, but when you feather, make the start of the feather close to the light. It may be thick, but as you get further from the light, you soften it out. You can then massage the edges of the feather around the light to blend.

Unfortunately, taping is a skill that becomes better with practice. Be patient, the worst thing that can happen is you will need to sand a little more than you had planned.

Be patient, the worst thing that can happen is you will need to sand a little more than you had planned.

Absolutely, this is great advice.

Thanx so much for all your advice.

I know...practice, practice, practice.

I just don't do it enough of it to get real good at it, and whenever I do do it I'm somewhat disappointed with the final product.

Maybe I'm a little too hard on myself, because I have seen much, much worse.

Thanx again all.

Jim

Hat Patch! It's my new favorite way to do small patches in drywall - no tape necessary. It comes out all flush, and you don't need anything fancy to do it.

Make your hole a uniform shape, like a square. Around the edge of the hole, run a utility knife just through the outer layer of paper about 1/2"-1" around the perimeter of the hole, and then peel off this strip of paper around the edges. Now, cut a piece of drywall that's as big as the hole + the stripped edges. Cut one layer of paper + sheetrock inside equivalent to the border you've made around your hole. You should be left with a "hat" shaped piece that fits perfectly into your hole, and the remaining paper will fill the void from the border you've stripped from around the hole.

Smear some compound around where the patch will fit into your hole, and enough to stick the new paper around the edges. Then later fill in any void you have left.

I know it sounds complicated. You might be able to google "hat patch" + drywall and find some pictures. But it's actually really easy and now it only takes me a couple of minutes to whip out a patch.

It's ironic you mention the "hat patch". I was actually considering removing the paper from both the patch and the surrounding area to a width such that the tape will straddle an inch on the patch and an inch on the opening.

I figured this would eliminate any paper bump.

Just that there would be nothing under the nail or screw and the sheetrock would crumble when you drive the fastener home.

Hmmmmmmmm.........I think I'll take you up on that google "hat patch"

I guess it would work at least some of the time.

Thanx for the insight.

Jim

We call them hot patches. Impossible to do on a ceiling because of old gravity. The weight of the sheetrock sags and when its dry the hump is worse then if you screwed it off before. I don't like them at all because of blisters but they are handy on a wall in a pinch.

Yeah, the existing ceiling was already crumbly because of water damage and the ceiling joists were so uneven to begin with. I did not want to experiment and end up having to redo it.

I save those projects for my own house.

Jim

I have done a couple more "water damage ceiling repair" jobs since my last post.

This is what I found works best for me.

1) Use a 45 min. setting type spackle for first coat.

2) Yes, chamfer the edges of the hole and the patch.

3) Try to get your insert to be slightly thinner than the surrounding material.
(sounds crazy, but it usually happens all by itself on surrounding drywall in proximity to a water compromised area).

4) Cut the hole and the new insert as accurately as possible.

5) yes, on patches of 6"x6" or smaller tape probably isn't necessary.

Jim

I've done a lot of patching. I use a couple different products when I do it...
I do my first coat of mud on the patch with a product called "LePage Poly Instafil Lightweight Spackling Compound" It dries super strong and does not crack nearly as easily as a normal drywall compound. It's a bit tough to sand though, so after I'm done the first application to the patch I switch back to CGC compound... I hate taping!

I like to use the quick setting type spackle, because then that way I can recoat within a couple of hours and have the job wrapped up by the time I leave.

Also the setting type doesn't seem to shrink as much.

Yeah, I hate taping too. On long runs it's OK, but on short little 12" pieces it's a pain.

Jim