Loading…
5
That week I patched my own drywall and learned a hard lesson about mud
Last Tuesday I tried to fix a hole in my living room wall from a doorknob strike. Used a whole bucket of joint compound from Home Depot but didn't let any layer dry more than 2 hours. By Thursday it was cracking like a dry riverbed and I had to sand everything down to bare paper. Has anyone else ruined a patch job by rushing the drying time?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
iris5743mo ago
Oh man, you absolutely nailed the mistake I made my first time too. That drying time thing is way more important than I ever realized. I now wait at least 24 hours between coats minimum, even if the can says it dries faster. Your mileage might vary but I found out the hard way that rushing it just makes everything crack and peel off. One trick that helped me was using a heat gun on low setting for bigger patches, but you still gotta be patient. The cracking thing is basically the mud shrinking and pulling apart because it didn't have time to set right.
5
the_rose3mo ago
Yeah, I learned that one the hard way too. My first attempt at patching a hole looked less like drywall repair and more like a topographical map of the moon with all the cracks. I swear I could see the mud shrinking in real time while I was standing there with my heat gun on full blast like a mad scientist. Now I just set a timer, walk away, and pretend the wall doesn't exist for a full day.
9