DIY: Patch hole in drywall

I figured I might as well show a little tutorial on how to do something I find so simple: Patch a hole in drywall.

If you've been reading up on the Craft room progress you'd know I had an electrical outlet added into the back of the closet area. The closet will be home to a desk for my laptop, shelf storage and be a little workstation niche.

Running all the new wiring required several holes to be made. I'm now in the process of patching those. Then the whole closet will be skim coated with mud. Right now it's a rough texture which is unfavorable and not easy to recreate.

Let's get started!
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This is what I am dealing with right now. Since the closet is going to be painted I had no worries about taking marker to the walls and drawing out my ideas and placement for the desk height etc.

With a simple 2x2 piece of drywall from the home store I am on my way. Also useful tools are a box cutter, hammer, drywall screws, drill, T-square and measuring tape... oh yes and a pen or something to mark with!

Here is the first hole to patch. I took a piece of 1x2 furring strip and cut it about 4 inches longer that the height of the hole. That way it can be fit behind the hole and our new piece of drywall has something to attach itself to.


I roughly cut the new piece of drywall. The hole is not perfectly square and nor will be the drywall I cut. Mud will help to fill it all in to be smooth.


After the piece was fitted in the hole. I used a hammer to tap it all lightly into place. Popped in a few screws and considered it secure. Don't forget to cut a hole out for your outlet!! I almost did!


 After the first coat of mud, the hole looks something like this. Several thin coats of mud are better than one thick coat. I'll add a couple more coats of mud to get the "low" areas built up to the thickness of the rest of the wall-- then I'll sand, prime and paint.

Only 4 more holes in the closet to go!