Drywall repair. It's easy, really!
Holes in drywall or plaster are relatively easy to fix and you won’t need an expensive list of tools to get the job done. You'll need some or all of these items: joint compound or spackle (mud), a putty knife, sandpaper, primer, matching paint and a small roller with a medium nap or a sponge brush and maybe drywall tape. If you don't have these things, you can probably pick them up for less than $15.00
This first method is primarily for small nail or screw holes. If you used an anchor to put the screw in and the anchor cannot be easily removed just push it through into the wall. Yes it will leave a bigger hole but it is harder to hide an anchor than it is to fix a slightly bigger hole.
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Using the putty knife like a spatula, scoop some out and press it into the hole and then working outward in an increasing pattern, lay on some compound around the hole, maybe 3” away from the edge of the hole. Thin the compound near the edges of your area, called feathering, so that when you look at the area from the side you don’t see a raised edge where your compound stops. Drying should take less than two to three hours but using a blow dryer can speed the process dramatically. After it has dried you can use fine grit sandpaper (220) to sand the area over to make sure that no bumps exist. Once you have sanded the area smooth, you can wipe off the dust with a slightly damp cloth. Let it dry and then prime and paint over the hole with your matching paint using a medium nap roller or sponge brush for a better finish.
For larger drywall repair jobs, there is a great new product in stores that is basically a square mesh patch with adhesive on the back. I would recommend this for any hole up to 3” but remember that behind that mesh, the hole is still there so that in the future if you decide to put something where the patch is there will not be anything there to anchor into.
The standard method is to cut out a bigger square area using a utility knife or drywall saw, screw in some backer boards (small pieces of wood that extend past the ends of the hole) on the inside of the drywall. Now you can cut a piece of drywall to fit inside the new hole and screw it to the backer boards. Most home improvement and hardware stores now carry small pieces of drywall for this type of repair. Apply compound over the entire hole area extending about 4” past the edges of the new hole. Feather the compound as noted above and let dry or help it along with a blow dryer. Sand it smooth, primer paint it and then paint it. You’re done! Nice work too. A little tip for you beginners. The bigger the area you create with the spackle the less likely you'll see the drywall repair. So if you have a 2" hole try to make the repair area about 6", this way you won't see a noticeable "patch job" when you paint.
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Drywall repair is necessary when you decide to move your pictures, mirrors or wall sconces. The holes that are left behind are ugly and need to be repaired. Sure you can put something in the same place but do you really want to?
