Patching and sanding walls

If you have children it is likely that at some stage of their childhood a ball, toy, or even a foot will go crashing through a wall in your home.

Kids will be kids and sometimes the unwanted may happen at the expense of your house - the good news is that with a bit of DIY work on your behalf, you can have your property looking like new again.

If you have a hole in a wall that needs to be repaired, it will require a patching and sanding job - head down to your local hardware store and grab a couple of filling knives, a sander, sanding block and some medium and fine-grade sandpaper.

You will also need some kind of filling compound to plug the hole with, once you have this, you can get started.
The first step of the job is to ensure you are working with a dust-free surface - cleaning all loose particles away and using a sponge to wipe the area.

Next you can plug up the hole with the filler, when doing this be careful not to underfill the cavity - if you overfill you can always sand this back.

Because the compound can take a bit of time to dry, it may be better to do the filling in layers, letting each one set before conducting the next layer.

If the hole is larger it will need a support backing in place. With step-by-step instructions, a plasterboard repair kit is effective and easy to use.  

To finish off your DIY patching job, sand the surface until it is flush and then finish with the finer grade to give a smooth professional finish.