After setting my fence posts, I had a few days to wait unit the concrete cured. I am not good at waiting. So why not jump back into my bathroom remodel? No time like the present! My last bathroom remodel post detailed my electrical work, which left me with an enormous hole in my wall. Now I need to try my hand in drywall repair to try and fix it. Full disclosure, I have repaired many holes in walls due to my clumsy children. In fact, I feel like my kids have trained me for this. However, I have never replaced or repaired drywall to this extent, but I have done my research, so let’s see how this goes! Just a reminder, here is the drywall I will be repairing.
In addition to the hole in the wall from the electrical work, I also needed to repair and patch the drywall that was surrounding the bathtub as it was toast after my tub demo. Below is a little video showing the process.
Drywall removal and replacement
As you see in the video, to remove the drywall, I measured, then used a straight edge and knife to cut a line into the drywall. This will ensure that you do not damage the rest of the drywall when removing that portion, or you will find yourself doing more drywall repair.
Next, I used a hammer and a prybar to pry out the damaged drywall and chipped away any remaining pieces. Finally, I cut new drywall and attached it to the studs using drywall screws.
Cutting drywall is super easy. You just score each side with a utility knife, then break it off.
That wasn’t as difficult as I was anticipating, however, I have learned that I should never assume something will be easy. Case and point, step 2, patching the drywall.
Drywall repair and patch
Here are the tools and materials I used:
- lightweight spackling
- Putty knives in multiple sizes
- drywall tape
- sanding sponge
I was clueless when it came to using drywall tape, but this website gave me a good place to start. To begin I loaded the joints with spackling, placed the tape on top, then added a layer of spackling over the top of the tape making sure to get all of the bubbles out.
Evidently, I didn’t get the bubbles out enough as you can see in this picture.
I had to cut the tape away using my utility knife, then repeat the process of filling the hole with spackling.
When the spackle was dry, I sanded using my sanding sponge.
You can see I had a few areas I needed to touch up, so I repeated the spackle and sanding a few more times until it was passable. By the end of the 3rd or 4th touch-up, I decided passable was as good as it was going to get. I also decided that I am not very good at drywall repair.
The last thing I needed to do was secure a 2×4 at the edge of the drywall where the cement board and drywall would meet. evidently, you should secure the edges of your drywall/cement board to a 2×4 for stability. Makes sense.
I used my chop saw to cut pieces of wood that fit between the studs and secured them with screws.
Then I attached a longer 2×4 parallel to the studs.
Now the wall is ready to attach the cement board, if I ever get to that point.
I am finally ready to texture the walls… kind of. First I have to finish my fence.