Best way patch ceiling drywall

Mix up a small batch of minute setting-type joint compound to a peanut-butter consistency, mist the ceiling with water from a spray bottle—that ensures the compound will set properly—and apply a thin layer of compound to the ceiling with the taping knife.

Then use it to press the tape into the wet compound, as shown. After the tape layer hardens, mix a bigger batch of joint compound and transfer it from the bucket to the ceiling with the 6-inch taping knife.

Now switch to a inch taping knife and use it to smooth the compound and feather its edges. Wait several minutes for the compound to firm up, then mist and smooth it some more. With patience, you can eliminate most imperfections with the knife before the compound becomes too hard to work. When the compound is hard, use a medium-grit sanding sponge to erase any blemishes. Pay particular attention to the edges. Wipe off the dust with a damp sponge.

When the patch is dry, brush or roll on a water-based primer. And when the primer dries, follow up with a coat of ceiling paint. Then stand back and admire your handiwork. Most tape that bridges drywall joints is made of paper above, top. But its relative thickness means that feathering edges and covering inside corners takes time and skill.

Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. How to Patch a Ceiling. By Thomas Baker. Pinterest Email Pocket Flipboard. Even after it is coated with drywall mud to smooth over the tape, the finished surface of a seam rises to just about the same plane as the rest of the sheet of drywall.

By keeping bound edges paired with bound edges, taping and feathering seams is much easier. A Drywall butt is the short edge of a sheet of drywall where the paper does not wrap around the edge.

The gypsum within is exposed. Unlike on a bound edge, the drywall thickness does not change as it approaches the edge. Therefore, when paper tape is applied to the seam of two drywall butts, it rises above the surface of the surrounding drywall. Tapers must be careful not to put too much mud over the surface of paper on drywall butts while feathering out the seam to match the plane of the field of a sheet of drywall. When a drywall butt is hung paired next to a bound edge, this creates two uneven surfaces.

Professional tapers are able to feather the joint so that it is nearly level with the surrounding surface; however it requires more coats and extreme care to create a flawless joint. Therefore, the first thing to consider when laying-out drywall is to keep the bound edges paired with bound edges and the drywall butts paired with drywall butts. To describe this point we will speak specifically about walls however the principles carry over to ceilings and soffits.

Wall studs whether metal or wood, are framed perpendicular to the floor. When hanging over wooden studs, sheets of drywall should always be hung perpendicular to the direction of the studs. Metal studs allow for a degree of flexibility in this regard however the principle holds true in many cases with metal stud construction as well.

Take for example a room with a ceiling height of eight feet. The simple thing may appear to be to take an eight foot sheet of drywall and stand it up length-ways so that one sheet reaches from ceiling to floor. Working from left to right sheets would be hung one next to another. This would limit the number of butt seams however this type of layout should be avoided with wood stud construction. Sheets that are hung perpendicular to the direction of studs create more even holding power across the entire wall.

Seams that land directly on a stud have less cross sheet holding power and the chances of seams popping or cracking is increased. For this reason, when hanging drywall over wood studs, you should almost always lay them out perpendicular to the direction of the studs. To remember it, think of the sheet of drywall as a train car and the studs as the railroad tracks.

Train cars travel lengthwise along tracks. Some people refer to this as hanging drywall sheets in landscape rather than portrait. Portrait would be like "railroad style", and landscape like, well, landscape. That type of description of course depends on your perspective in relation to the studs. What is wrong with hanging sheets parallel to wood studs? When drywall is hung parallel to the studs, "railroad style" the bound edges fall directly on a stud.

Because wood studs are not perfectly straight, the bound edge may or may fall directly in the middle of the stud along the entire distance of the stud. Perhaps the top of the stud is curved slightly to the left and therefore the bound edge of the perfectly straight sheet of drywall will not follow the crooked stud and therefore not have sufficient backing.

Other wood studs may be proud to the room and therefore the entire length of the seam will end up sticking out into the room. Either situation makes the drywall seam more difficult to tape and finish and compromises the strength of the joint. As mentioned above, metal stud framing allows for more flexibility in the direction of sheet layout for the following reasons. First, Metal studs are perfectly straight and therefore if a bound edge lands on a stud, it is much easier to ensure that it falls along the entire length of the stud evenly and has sufficient backing throughout.

Second, metal stud framing is generally used in commercial construction. Usually more consideration is given to expansion and contraction in commercial structures limiting the stress on the drywall. If drywall is going to crack in a commercial job, it is probably because of forces beyond the help of the layout of the sheets of drywall. In commercial building with suspended ceilings at heights of under 12 feet, drywall is often stood up lengthwise parallel to the direction of the studs because this creates a situation with almost no butt joints.