Ack! A Crack In The Wall!

December 10, 2006 1:37 PM

There's a small crack/dent in the wall by my door where it got kicked by accident. What's my best bet on fixing it? I don't need it to be perfect, but good enough to not be obvious. I've uploaded a few pics. My initial thoughts were to throw some spackle over the crack/hole, smooth it over, and then paint. Or should I just be trying to find someone to pay to do this? Thanks!
posted by inigo2 to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

I would get a big putty knife and just smooth some quick dry spackle over it, if you're not too concerned about it. That's what your average fix-it guy is probably going to do for something like that anyways.
posted by gregschoen at 1:44 PM on December 10, 2006

Do what gregschoen said. Or if you want a slightly better finish you could use that self-adhensive joint tape first then smooth some drywall compound over it. Spread it so that it is thin at the edges of the patch. Let it dry. Then take a damp sponge and smooth it over before you paint it. The sponge will remove slight bumps and imperfections. Just don't overdo the sponge thing. Then paint it. It should look good.
posted by JayRwv at 2:09 PM on December 10, 2006

Before you do that, it might be worth making a small hole near the broken edge of the kicked-in flap, hooking a bit of stiff wire into it, and gently pulling the flap back out to make it line up with the rest of the wall. That would save a fair bit of filler, and should give you a neater-looking result.
posted by flabdablet at 2:16 PM on December 10, 2006

When I was about 10, my 8 year old brother chased me into my room. I slammed the door on him, he kicked and the resulting indentation was remarkably similar to yours. Not knowing anything about spackle, I made some "paste" with flour and water, "spackled" the door with this mixture and waited nervously for a couple fo days until it dried. When it dried, I sanded it and painted over it. About 11 years later, when I was home for Christmas, my mother FLIPPED OUT when she *finally* happened to notice it! (And she's no dummy.)

So if an spastic girl like me can do it well enough to fool my mom for over a decade with flour paste, you can handle spackle.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 2:16 PM on December 10, 2006 [1 favorite]

Except that it will look like a patch unless you paint the whole wall. It's almost impossible to match paint perfectly. Not that it's a big deal, but if you want it to be undetectable you'll have to pain the wall.
posted by The Bellman at 2:17 PM on December 10, 2006

Is this a rental or a place you own? If you rent, just use spackle liberally and sand to get it looking unblemished. If you own, spend a few minutes and fix it right.

Assuming the latter, I would use a drywall saw and cut out the cracked/dented section of drywall (make it a big rectangle, it makes your life easier) and follow steps 4-7 here. It's not as hard as it looks. Certainly no need to pay somebody to do it unless you are completely DIY incapable.
posted by jtfowl0 at 2:21 PM on December 10, 2006

This happened (but worse) at my house once, and my mom fixed it on her own. She bought a drywall patch (or something like that) at the hardware store, cut out a rectangle around the hole, and followed the directions on the package. It turned out well even though we have textured walls, and should look even nicer on flat walls like yours. I think this method is what jtfowl0 is talking about above, actually, but I thought I should reassure you that you can probably do it on your own.
posted by MadamM at 5:16 PM on December 10, 2006

I had a similar thing happen at a holiday house, except the whole was more than just an indent with a crack. We bought some plaster at the local hardware store, flattened it out, sanded it, and easily got our bond back.
posted by tomble at 6:31 PM on December 10, 2006

Drill a hole in the dented part near the crack, tie a strong string to the middle of a popsicle stick, push the stick through the hole, and pull on the string. You should be able to pull most of the dent back flush with the wall, then spackle the crack and the hole you drilled.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:14 PM on December 10, 2006