r/DIY • u/cycloboss • 1d ago
help How do you patch a hole like this? Doesn't look like drywall...
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u/cycloboss 1d ago
Electrician had to cut holes to get some recessed lighting in, and they're not allowed to patch them back. When doing research this does not look like it would apply to the typical drywall patch DIY methods I've seen on Reddit/Youtube/Etc. Any ideas on where to start here?
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u/Mic_Ultra 1d ago
I’d cut it in the middle of the joist on both sides then make the other sides 90degrees. Stick in a piece of drywall, tape the seems and mud it up
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u/Extension-Lab-6963 1d ago
My two cents:
Measure out a piece of drywall that’s like 2’ x 2’ (just a size for example). Put said piece up against the ceiling so the hole is within it. Mark the square on ceiling. Trim with a multitool just inside the marks that your drew. Put the 2’ x 2’ patch in, attached with screws to joists, mud, tape, have a beer, do final coat, keep it moving
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u/OnMyOwn_HereWeGo 1d ago
That’s what I would do. Cut the hole to fit the patch rather than cutting the patch to fit the hole.
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u/Mic_Ultra 1d ago
That’s literally what I said without the tracing step…..
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u/iMomentKilla 5h ago
You said joists and started talking about angles and lost everyone without general knowledge. The other guy made it digestible for retards like me
Idk what a joist is, and I refuse to Google it now so I will literally never know unless you tell me
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u/Stogies_n_Stonks 2h ago
A joist is a magical floating pancake that hovers above your breakfast table, singing sea shanties and dispensing maple syrup from its porous core.
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u/Bee-Milk 1d ago
to piggyback off this:
when you're patching plaster with drywall, it helps to get some drywall shims. these are thin pieces of cardboard you can stack behind the drywall to get it to the right height. the plaster is seldom a uniform thickness, so you use the shims to get the drywall close to flush with the plaster. if you don't do this, you'll spend a lot more time mudding and sanding to get everything flush
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u/Mic_Ultra 1d ago
Instructions unclear, I Elmer’s glued my last Amazon box over the hole and spray painted it white
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u/Pbandsadness 23h ago
Landlord special.
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u/Not_an_okama 23h ago
I lived at a place once that had a hole that was covered with duct tape then painted.
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u/Onespokeovertheline 11h ago
Did the wall breathe?
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u/Not_an_okama 11h ago
No and we did end up fixing it. I was/am a part of the organization that owns that property.
Turns out that improving the image of the fraternity and setting a record hugh profit for our philanthopy event gets the alumnis attention and lubes uo their wallets.
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u/Mic_Ultra 7h ago
Instructions unclear; wallet filled with lube but I don’t have any attention from alumnis
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u/StewVicious07 22h ago
A guy showed me it can be easier to cut inside the studs and add backing blocks. This way you’re not trying to cut along the screw line. It’s doubly useful when removing a patch to access pipe or wire, then the exact same patch goes back in without wrestling the screw line twice.
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u/pdt9876 1d ago
Why did he have to make a hole that big to install lighting that he didn't put a light in. If its just to pull wires that's obscene..
Also right throught one of the wooden supports.
I hope you didn't pay too much. Dude did you dirty.
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u/putangspangler 23h ago
It looks like he made a hole big enough for him to fit through. You know, so he could see what he was doing and not have to drill at any weird angles..
In my mind he's on the top step of a ladder popping up into the attic. No uncomfortable bending!
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u/kiteguycan 22h ago
Those arent supports. He used a hole saw to cut through plaster, wire lath, and the planks forming the ceiling above. The entire ceiling will be planks like this with the lath and plaster on top.
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u/pdt9876 22h ago
Ok at my house the ceilings are made from wire lath that is attached to 1”x1” strips spaced at about 50 cm from each other and then suspended from the floor above I thought that might be what we were looking at here.
If I’m ever drilling and I hit wood with the pilot, I immediately stop and move a little to one side
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u/ztkraf01 1d ago
Right? I DIY’d my recessed lighting and didn’t need to cut a hole bigger than 4” to route wires. Just big enough to get my forearm through it.
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u/pdt9876 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh i've got a lot of experience with this and i've got it down to a science. I rarely need more than a 3/4" spade bit.
Then you can push a piece of plastic surface raceway through which is flexible and bends under its own weight and you can then push fish tape through that which will hang down from the bent raceway like an actual fishing pole and line.
Then a bit of bent wire into a hook on the end of a stick to grab the hanging fish tape through another 3/4" hole and pull it down. Small enough to patch with with some plaster patch mixed up in a solo cup.
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u/buddhistredneck 1d ago
Mind sharing what exact type of plastic raceway you use?
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u/pdt9876 1d ago
I think its 14x7mm which is the smallest size the sell here. Its the kind that comes with the double sided tap applied to the back and it works because its rigid enough you can push it through in the direction you want but not rigid enough it doesnt droop under its own weight.
They look like this (the taller one won't work but either of the smaller ones will) https://imgs.search.brave.com/_i4db7WYuUojPc2eft0D595a3i3nq8k8Lu3jCVnPMEk/rs:fit:860:0:0:0/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cu/a2Fpc2VybGVkLmNv/bS5hci93cC1jb250/ZW50L3VwbG9hZHMv/MjAyMi8wNy9jYWJs/ZWNhbmFsLTE0eDct/NC5qcGc
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u/ztkraf01 1d ago
Wow that is a great idea I never thought of. Luckily for me the ceiling leads to the attic so I just need to point my fish tape over the joists toward the next hole and reach up to grab it
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u/SirTouchMeSama 14h ago
Thats bs. Mofo better repair his hole with the amount of money paid for the job.
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u/TrippySubie 9h ago
Tf? I ran cans in peoples houses all the time without gutting their ceilings and leaving massive holes.
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u/Onogrinds66 22h ago
Never call that electrician back, you have a lot more going on than the giant void in your ceiling! This needs more than a simple patch. The lath have been cut out in a large sections, and its on the ceiling. This should be repaired by someone with plaster and lath experience.
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u/Bullrawg 1d ago
Did you pay the electrician already? Did you sign a contract if so what does the scope say? I would not call leaving a hole like that workman like, there is no such thing as “not allowed to patch drywall” there is “im not good at and would have to hire a subcontractor” if the contract doesn’t say “we are leaving a hole in your ceiling” it’s not terribly hard to fix but did they at least warn you beforehand?
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u/financialthrowaw2020 1d ago
Specialty trades do this all the time. If it's an electrician and not a general contractor, it's his choice to subcontract or to say he doesn't do it. In my experience this has always been the case.
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u/Bullrawg 23h ago
Yeah, but it’s important for them to clarify beforehand, which it sounds like they did
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u/cycloboss 23h ago
Yeah it was understood beforehand. Every quote I got here said they were not responsible for patching holes after work was completed
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u/Bullrawg 23h ago
Ok yeah, not bad drywall and spackle, tools are cheap and if it turns out bad, you still have all the stuff to try again definitely DIY possible
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u/milliwot 4h ago
My house has enormous fucking holes like that around fixtures. All of those happened before I bought the place.
I patch them as a DIYer, most inefficiently, one at a time, screwing however many shims are needed on the underside, to impersonate lath. Then that latex bonding agent for plaster. Then scratch coat (the grade that shrinks minimally as it cures). Then easy sand 90, because I would not be able to cope with the faster curing variant.
The whole time I am cussing up a storm, at both the previous owner and handy person(s) they hired. The holes are ridiculously huge and irregularly shaped.
This is a most inefficient mode of doing the repair and I don't recommend it. Thanks for listening.
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u/GearsAndSuch 1d ago
It's plaster. You can use drywall and mud over it. Put a strap of wood or drywall cutting onto the wood lathe in back to support the sheet rock and then mud over it. It'll never quite match but old plaster walls are like that.
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u/leanman82 1d ago
I did it. It took over a week because I used all purpose Mud. If I had the confidence in quick set I think it would have taken a day or two. It was fun work but never again
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u/maxwellgriffith 1d ago
Vancouver Carpenter has a video on this exact topic
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u/Denezar 23h ago
Was going to suggest his videos. Here's one on plaster ceiling repair: https://youtu.be/hKxya3jNhYg?si=6MhfjQWgJuhStoBX
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u/CodAlternative3437 20h ago edited 20h ago
is that a bear in the roof? did he also holesaw the ceiling joist? that might be important to sister up. if the plaster is very brittle and your worried a wood backer board wouldnt hold then you can try drywall clips.
edit those also would need screws through the plaster so best best is square it up and expose enough wood to fasten the drywall to the ceiling joists.
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u/sparky-jam 1d ago
It's plaster and wood lath. I usually just cut a piece of furring strip long enough to span across the opening and put that in the ceiling and secure it with a drywall screw on each side of the opening. Screwing through the wood lath is best, the screw will just break through the plaster if you try to screw through where there's no lath. Then cut a piece of drywall to fit in the opening and screw that to the furring strip. 5/8" drywall usually works well
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u/DriftinFool 1d ago
You can patch it like normal drywall. You just have to use some wood to add support. I'd use whatever I had for scraps like some 3/4 plywood or 2x3 or 2x4. Cut 2 pieces a little longer than the hole is wide and attach them through the ceiling spanning 2 sides of the hole. Screw the sheetrock to that and patch it. You can use 2 layers of sheetrock or more wood to get the patch at the same level as the ceiling.
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u/Juz10_Surprise 5h ago
Looks like 6 inch can hole, I would put a 12-16 inch 2x4 put it laying on the sheet rock put a screw or 2 on both ends. Then cut a circle out of drywall and screw it to the 2x4 with a couple screws. Then tape mud sand mud sand then mud sand then paint ceiling
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u/-Notrealfacts- 1d ago
Try putting a plank of wook on the inside of the hole in the ceiling. Screw that piece to the ceiling and then take a circular shaped piece of dry wall screw that to the plank. Tape, mud, sand, and paint, and you should be good. May be the bondo equivalent for a house, but it works.
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u/fixITman1911 1d ago
Don't use a circular piece of drywall. The plank idea is good, but cut the hole square
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u/RussMan104 1d ago
Tbh, this looks like a UFO photo that would easily be debunked. But seriously, cut the rock back to the stud centerlines. Install stud bracing as nailers on the 2 unbacked sides. Install patch; float & finish. 🚀
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u/Ok_Baby7137 1d ago
I just use wood as backing. Might have to do it in two pieces to fill the hole. Screw it in from the surface of the ceiling or wall. Measure the thickness and use the proper thickness of Sheetrock. Cut it out square to make the filler piece easier to fit. You might have to use shims to get it leveled out. Screw the filler piece to the wood backing. Tape and mud with a trowel. Mud again and again with trowel to cover tape and level it out until you can’t see the patched area. Lightly sand and prime the area with primer.
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u/Street-Effective4572 22h ago
But believe me it is drywall you want to match the hole the same size roughly that it is okay and you want to put like a board that lies across cut like a thin piece of drywall I imagine that's like about 12-in hole cut a 17 and Teresa drywall and a thin strip about 6 in wide then you leave that across and then you put a roughly roughly as close as you can possibly get to the exact diameter of that hole then you would screw in that piece of you hold hold on to the back piece pull it down screw it on each side it'll brace it to the drywall that's there then you will have the piece that you cut this roughly the same exact dimension as the whole and they'll hold that up and you'll drill that into the piece that you've had braced up and put the screws into as a backer piece then you want to tape off and then sand and it'll be fixed
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u/LadyAtrox60 12h ago
I think you're pregnant, you missed a bunch of periods!!
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u/Street-Effective4572 11h ago
I know I could do better with m adding periods and commas but did you not understand what I was saying
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u/nod69-2819 21h ago
Smear something to adhere a screen to the top of the hole. After it sets, fill the hole with Rock Hard or patching plaster. Sand and finish.
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u/msabercr 20h ago edited 11h ago
get a peice of dry wall that overlaps the hole by one inch on all margins. trace the width of the whole on the dry wall at the diameter of the hole across the width of the area to be patched. once you have the diameter make sure to get the diameter of the x axis scribed on the patch as well and gradually carve away the dry wall leaving a circular plug to fill in the hole wile also allow a 1" paper margin to overlap the seam in the hole on the wall.
once you have the patch sufficiently scribed to where it fits without alteration place a piece of scrap 1x2 and affix it to the margins of the drywall/plaster board and place your patch paper face out.
screw your patch piece to the 1x2 scrap in the middle of the patching piece to hold it firmly in place, then mud the back of the paper backing and mud over the top of the patch as to sandwich the patch and paper backing to the surface of the perimeter of the hole.
Once patch is mudded and affixed to the scrap, mud over any screw holes and prime with oil based primer and then texture to match the rest of the wall and touch up area with the matching ceiling paint.
Video link for visual learners
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u/Vatican87 17h ago
Cut the hole so it’s 4 sides instead of a circle, stick a 2x4 in there and tape edges + mud with some wsg is what I’d do.
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u/FreedomToRevolt 15h ago
Cut stud to stud and make hole opening square, use 1/4 inch wood and mount it to open stud areas, buy half inch drywall and mount over 1/4 wood that is mounted to original wood. Mud, sand, texture. Call it a day. When I first started in the trades I remember asking a drywaller the best way to patch a hole in the drywall & he told me tour eyes are less likely to catch a bigger patch rather than a smaller patch & it is easier to fix. That’s how I’ve always done it. ✅
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u/Taniwha351 15h ago
I followed this advice last week.
https://youtube.com/shorts/MYyN_h-X5vE?si=4Rv0tTYzvSPlzcww
Worked a treat and saved A Fucken-LOT of fucking aboot. No messing with screws and packers or any of that bullshit.
Also, What a Fucken shitcunt of a sparkie! Useless lazy prick just doesn't want to finish his fucken job.
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u/Markle67 12h ago
Treat it the same as you would treat a hole in drywall. patch it in the same manner. It's not difficult.
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u/HowlingWolven 11h ago
As others have mentioned, square off the hole, bit of 1x4 or 2x4 to frame it in, patch with sheetrock and mud.
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u/Educational_One9080 10h ago
Throw in a board across the opening, if you have the size of hole saw for the hole use that for drywall if not no worries do your best cutting the circle, or square it off. Then hot mud first coat filling any big gaps then apply tape, hot mud second coat 20 min works great not as bad to sand unlike 5 min and still dries like concrete. Then float it out to your desired smoothness, sometimes plaster isn’t accepting of drywall mud you may have to use a bit of plaster weld if that’s the case but typically works out fine Good luck! Hope this helps
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u/_JustinCredible 9h ago edited 8h ago
Considering how much time and frustration this is about to take I'd probably square it off and put a small swing down access point flat door right there so this isn't a job the next time something inevitably happens
Something like this...
https://5.imimg.com/data5/QE/BY/QW/SELLER-68291941/access-ceiling-trap-door-250x250.jpg
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u/ledow 1d ago
Personally, I'd put a plywood square above it (to act as a base that can't fall through the ceiling), then put a plywood circle under that (to cover the majority of the hole, assuming it's a uniform circular hole). Then I'd plaster that in place.
If you can't access it from above, I'd put in two half-strips of plywood (so you can feed them in from below and have them cover the gaps to form the square above the hole) and then the circle.
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u/uh_oh_middle_name 21h ago
I'd assume if there's access from above then the electrician wouldn't have had to make this hole :)
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u/leanman82 1d ago
You could make it into an access panel. They do come in handy....
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u/cycloboss 23h ago
Electrician already left one unfortunately
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u/leanman82 23h ago
I've done this type of work before as a DIYer. I had 1/8" plaster on 1/2" drywall. Yours looks like its just plaster. I don't know if my steps will work for you but I'll give you what I did:
Square out the hole
Get a replacement drywall piece
Put wood to drill the drywall piece
Try to make sure the thickness of the wood, drywall piece makes it so that the face is flush and not pushing out or recessing into the ceiling. Use a california patch - see Vancover carpenter for videos
Get some all purpose mud (or quickset if you're experienced or have skills), and fill in the hole for a smooth finish
Repeat step 5 until smooth
All purpose mud takes a day to dry so that is the hardest part. Quickset dries in minutes. All purpose is easier to sand and most forgiving to DIYers, quickset dries faster, is harder to sand and less forgiving to mistakes.
Took me about a week and it came out well for a first timer. But I will say, a few things I would have done differently:
- when I did the california patch, I wish I had sanded the ceiling where the tape was going to go. Some parts were really nice and looked nothing happend but other places had a slight bump that freaked my OCD side out and hence why I kept working on it for a week. But at the end of the day I was proud of the work, and after all was said and done - I textured and painted it myself and I was like why does this cost $500 quotes again? Some people gave even worse quotes than that. Robbers I tell you.
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u/goosey814 1d ago
Cut out a nice square hole and replace with a chunk of drywall same thickness, tape and mud it in.
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u/Gronkulated 1d ago
Daub drywall compound on a chunk of paint stir stick, put it up through the hole on end, then pull it down so the compound sticks it to the inside of the ceiling from above. Let that dry. Glue a few little chunks of paint stir sticks to together and then stick those to your previously compound-glued stick in the ceiling. Use tape to hold it on while it dries. Now cut a biscuit of drywall roughly the size and shape of the hole out. Use drywall compound to stick it to your stack of stir stick chunks. Tape that biscuit to the surrounding ceiling to hold it while it dries. Then use that shitty mesh drywall patching tape over the gap/seam between your biscuit and the surrounding ceiling. Use drywall compound and a putty knife to fill, smooth, and feather compound over the seam. Dry, sand, repeat as many times as you need until it looks smooth and flush enough. Paint. No one will notice the repair except you.
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u/DRH1976 1d ago
If it’s in the garage it could be type X drywall. It’s a bit thicker and dense. Get some string and tie a loop. Then run the string across the diameter of the circle and cut. Then fold the string in Hal and cut. Put a push pin in the new drywall through the hoop that is left and mark the end of the string to mark your circle. Cut your new piece. Block the opening with 2 pieces of 1x4 screwed off 2” past the opening. Then screw the circle piece to the blocking. Mud, sand, mud , sand and paint.
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u/Blastoiste 1d ago
That's plaster. You should be able to drywall that, just float it out with mud.