I’m so lost that I don’t even know where to post this, but I have a serious problem. (Finally figured out that “Tools” wasn’t the right place, so will try this. My daughter asked me to remove a shelf bracket that she had screwed onto the wall in my granddaughter’s room. It was screwed into the studs, and when she tried to remove it, she stripped the head of the screw. I finally got it out, but put some major holes in the dry wall in the process. They’re not big enough to warrant replacing a section of dry wall, but I definitely need to fill them with something before repainting.
What should I use as filler? Something like spackle? Putty? I’m really lost, and would appreciate any help you can give an old cook who just wandered over here looking for advice! Thanks.
Insist on the real MadMom – accept no substitutes!
Replies
How big a hole are we really talking about ? And you said it's over a stud - is it confined to the stud, or does it overflow significantly ? Are we talking about making the hole square and putting in the equivalent of a drywall "dutchman" (1"x1", 2"x2"); or are we talking about a foot square and having to add some backing ?
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Thanks, Phill, for replying...the holes really aren't that huge...about half the size of a dime. It's just where the screw had to be pried out of the stud. Actually, I'm very impatient, so I just went to the local HW store and picked up some spackle, which it says is okay for patching holes in dry wall. I put it on, smoothed it out, and figure I'll go back over it when it dries, in case it sinks into the hole. Is that a reasonable approach?
(I guess that a big hole to me and a big hole to a contractor might be two different things, right?)Insist on the real MadMom - accept no substitutes!
For a small hole over a stud, spackle should work fine. If it doesnt, no harm done. Any real lumberyard or paint store should be able to line you out.
JonC
Thanks, guys. I appreciate the help. I went to the local "hardware" store hoping to get some advice, and the only people there were two pimply-faced teenagers who looked like they thought a "stud" was something they really wanted to be on a Saturday night, so I just winged it.Insist on the real MadMom - accept no substitutes!
Another case where the intuitive answer is probably the best one MadMom. Your spackle will probably work out just fine. When I first saw your note I immediately began thinking of the baseball through basketball size holes I get asked to fix now and then: they're somewhat more challenging..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Thanks, Phill - I realized when I read your reply that I had probably overstated my problem! I just didn't want DD to return from a week in Las Vegas and find her Mom had destroyed the girls' room...so now if the darn spackle will just get dry enough to paint, I can cover up all my madness and no one will be the wiser...although that does lead me to my next problem:
I'm trying to mount little shelves above the girls' beds, somewhere they can set empty (or half-full) glasses, little nicknacks, etc. It seems like nothing wants to hold in the darn drywall, and of course, the hangers on the shelves are not set on normal stud spacing, so I have to come up with something else. My thought was to get a small piece of board, maybe 2" wide by 1/4" thick and long enough to hang the shelves from. I could screw this onto a stud in the middle, then mount the shelves (which are not particularly heavy - only about 18" long and 4" wide) onto the little board. Does this make sense, or can anyone give me a better idea?
I've already tried using the little plastic thingies that you screw into (supplied with the shelves) and they just pulled right out of the drywall (which added more holes I needed to fill in.) Next I tried Molly bolts, but those also pulled out (which added even bigger holes to fill in.) I think the Molly bolts I got were for thicker drywall, so perhaps if I got a different size? I'm still thinking a small piece of wood that I could attach to the stud with a couple of screws might be my best bet. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me, and I promise that if I get this fixed, I will go away and try not to be such a bother again!Insist on the real MadMom - accept no substitutes!
MM, It sounds like you may have destroyed the area you need to fasten to, in which case I would say go with a board, (1/4” thick seems a little thin, thicker might be better. And you plan to hit only one stud lady? That won’t work .
If you can find two spots of unmolested drywall you can try this type of fastener, they work great for what you want to do, and are available everywhere.>>>
http://www.smithfast.com/ezanc.htm
Yo MadMomma -
Qtrmeg's suggestion is a good one.
My only other intelligent thought is to use a stud finder to locate a couple of studs, then use some 2 1/2" drywall screws to hold she shelves up. Stud finders are about $10, I think. Might be a good investment.
Can't use stud finders......they keep pointing at me......what the heck was I thinking?
Thanks, everybody...the E-Z-anchors look like a great idea...I'll try to find some. I've got a stud finder...the big problem is that the Chinese who built the little shelves evidently thought 17 1/2" spacing was great...so even if I put one side into a stud, the other side won't hit one...even in Louisiana, they are closer to 16" than that!
Our internet connection went out last night, so I was able to get some work done. Got the wall nicely spackled and repainted, removed another shelf that DD was afraid would fall down on the kids, spackled those holes, and now I'm ready to mess it up again! Thanks for all the good ideas. I may try the anchors first, and if they pull out, will figure out something else. Why do simple projects seem to be more complicated, the older I get?Insist on the real MadMom - accept no substitutes!
madmom, try these anchors if you have a hilti distributer near
http://www.us.hilti.com/cgi-bin/store/apps/product/prcafuse.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1060323410.1016826850@@@@&BV_EngineID=gadcdifhelhfbjhcgncecfe.0&vl_catOid=-37071