Holes in the walls


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Old 10-26-11, 04:30 PM
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Holes in the walls

We just moved into a house that was built in 1900. My boys have hit the wall twice accidentally and we now have two holes, each one is probably about a 9 inch diameter circle. I am not sure what the walls are made of. There is a thing layer of white stuff, they a layer of something that looks like fibers, then a layer of something that looks like black/gray felt or paper, then the layers repeat again. Its not plaster and doesn't appear to be any kind of sheetrock that we have ever seen, hoping the fibers arent asbestos. This is a temporary home for us and I do not want to replace all the walls, I just want to repair the holes, not perfectly, but enough so I dont have holes. My husband wants to repair it like sheetrock and cut a bigger hole to the studs and then put in a piece of sheetrock, this stuff isnt as thick as sheetrock and i dont know how that is going to blend in, seems like it would stick out from the walls a quarter inch or maybe more but the holes seem too big to just spackle over or whatever, I need suggestions from someone who knows what they are doing I guess. Please help!
 
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Old 10-27-11, 04:00 AM
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Welcome to the forums!

Could you provide a pic or two? http://www.doityourself.com/forum/li...-pictures.html
Based on the description I'm not sure what type of wall you have although plaster would be right for that era. We do have a couple of plaster pros that hopefully will have time to chime in later.

Drywall comes in several different sizes, if 1/2" is too thick, you can also get it in 3/8" or 1/4"
 
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Old 10-27-11, 04:11 AM
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Wall "Patches" that are reinforced with a thin sheet of metal are sold at the big box stores like HD and Lowes. The thin sheets of metal are covered with a fiber webbing that extends beyond the four sides of the metal sheet. The fiber webbing is self stick and, when it is new and taken out of the wrapper, you peel off a paper that reveals the sticky side of the webbing. Get one of these (you'll probably need the largest size that is available) and center it over the hole and press the webbing against the wall around the edges. Be care not to bend the metal sheet or get the webbing messed up when applying it to the wall because you are, then, going to apply successive thin coats of spackle, first around the edges, then eventually over the whole patch, metal and all. You have to take your time and allow the successive coats of spackle to dry completely between coats. Sand between coats after the spackle has dried so that you have a bare minimum of spackle. Too much spackle will make the wall look swollen where the patch is when finished.

These work well.
 
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Old 10-27-11, 04:20 AM
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just to clarify;

spackling is just for minor repairs and shouldn't be used on large areas.

joint compound is what you'd use on this repair. Some folks use a slang term for j/c including spackle, drywall mud and wall putty.
 
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Old 10-27-11, 02:19 PM
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I think I know the stuff you mean. You could patch it with drywall like this. Get a 1 X 2 or 1 X 4 that is longer than the hole. You are going to insert this inside the wall behind the hole and screw through the existing wall into the stick. Only you need to take the additional step of shimming between the back side of the wall and the stick. Some thin wood, cardboard or most anything you can screw through will do. What you want to do is get the stick recessed by 1/2" or a little more from the front of the wall. Then cut a piece of drywall to fit the hole and screw it to the stick. There are countless posts here about how to proceed from there.
You could make a butterfly patch which uses the face paper of the new piece of drywall to lap over onto the old work and eliminate tape. In essence the paper flange is the tape.

If husband cuts over to studs just screw a nailer lile a 1 X 2 or 1 X 3 board to the stud and recess it so a 1/2" piece of drywall will end up flush.
 
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Old 10-28-11, 05:16 AM
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How thick is the existing wall? As stated drywall comes in various thickness. Usually 3/8" is right for plaster walls. Cut a piece of drywall slightly larger than the hole. Hold the drywall up to the hole and trace it. Cut the hole on the line you traced. Screw some backing boards inside the hole to hold the new drywall to. It's not necessary to go all the way to a stud. Now screw the piece of drywall into the backing board and finish the repair with joint compound. Basically what tightcoat has said.
 
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Old 10-28-11, 02:51 PM
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We had plaster at our old house, much sturdier than whatever this is, there are no wood pieces in the wall other than the studs, etc, maybe someone redid the walls cheaply in the past, I am going to hit HD and Lowes tomorrow to check out those patches and I will also take pics and post them tomorrow, this hallway is very dark at night due to their only being a single small light and I dont think the pic would come out well. I am a dumb girl, not educated in this stuff, so anything that is whitish and comes in a tub and is used to make the walls look smooth is spackle to me, I will do my homework tonight so I can come back more educated. I also noticed that these walls are interior walls, it seems that the actual walls that walls that are exterior walls are much sturdier and can take a hit. Thanks for your help, I will be back.
 
 

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