How To Use A Piece Of Scrap Wood To Make Patching Drywall Easier

If you have drywall in your home, you likely know that it can be fairly easily damaged. Rowdy kids, bumps from moving furniture, and door handles blowing open without a stopper can easily leave you with holes in need of repair, and the process of creating a patch that's both sturdy and well-blended can be quite a difficult task. Thankfully, clever TikToker Home RenoVision DIY came up with a method that takes the stress out of patching drywall, and all it requires is a piece of scrap wood, a few screws, a small piece of drywall, and something to fill in the gaps.

Most methods of repairing drywall involve some kind of tape or mesh to camouflage and blend out the edges, but these repairs often end up creating a noticeable difference in texture in the final product and can feel flimsy or thin once your paint is applied. With this approach, however, the hole is almost completely filled, and there's even backing to support the area to help protect it from further damage.

In his TikTok video, Home RenoVision DIY walks you through the process of this drywall repair. To begin, gather the necessary materials: a piece of scrap wood that's larger than your hole, three screws, a drill, a piece of drywall that fits the hole, and expansion foam. To start the process, drill a screw into the middle of your piece of wood to act as a handle, then place it inside the hole, keeping it in place against the back of the wall by holding the screw. While maintaining this pressure, screw in both edges of the wood to the undamaged drywall on either side of the hole, then remove the central screw once everything is secure.

Once you're left with this wood backing, you can cut a piece of drywall the same size as the hole and put it in place, screwing it into the wood to secure it. From there, go around the edges with expansion foam to conceal the crack and trim away excess until the wall is flat. Paint, and you'll be left with a seamless finish.

This method of repairing drywall is fairly customizable to fit your needs, so if you don't have certain materials available, you can easily swap parts out to get a similar result. If you're repairing a larger hole, try out a larger piece of ultra-thin plywood so the existing drywall doesn't have to support a ton of weight. You can also opt for joint compound instead of expansion foam to fill in the cracks around the newly-installed piece of drywall if it's what you have on hand.

Additionally, it's a good idea to cut the hole in your drywall to a more even shape before attempting to repair it if it's not already something with regular edges. In his video, Home RenoVision DIY is patching a fairly small rectangle, so the process of cutting a piece of drywall to fit is pretty simple. You'll have more success with this approach with precise edges and measurements, so try to clean up the damage a bit if your hole is an irregular shape.