Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/16/easy-repair-for-small-holes-in-walls.html
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GENIUS! even the smallest tub is sometimes too much.
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Spackle is for chumps: It’s more expensive, and the wrong texture for drywall or plaster walls. It always looks wrong even after painting. Drywall compound is so much better. Yes, the container dries out, but so does spackle.
Nah. What you really want is caulk. Squeeze it into the hole, get some water on your finger, and smooth out the fill til its flat. Much quicker than all that sanding! And you don’t need to buy a special product, you’ve got this stuff lying around anyway, right?
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For nailholes, sure. For small dents from toddler activities or mis-aimed hammers, scuffs from a chair where there’s no wainscotting, I’d always go for drywall compound.
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When we were students moving out - that’s what toothpaste was for.
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@frauenfelder - affiliate link is broken.
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I’d really like you to explain to me the technical difference between “Spackle” and “Drywall Compound”, but warning – I already know the answer, and your recommendation indicates that you really do not.
One of my favorite podcasts, Sawbones, uses a phrase I’ve come to really like: cure-alls cure nothing. I think the same applies to tools and the like: all-in-one or combination tools don’t do any of the individual things any better, and probably do many of them worse.
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I only know it as an archaic term for plaster. TIL the word is still used.
It was also an 18th century word (in Dublin at least) for drunk.
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For small patches I have been loving the foam type stuff, like spackle but with air whipped in. The light weight keeps it from drooping, and the air means less material to dry/shrink. Often requires just one coat instead of the 2-3 cycles of patch/dry needed for spackle or joint compound.
It is more expensive but for small repairs totally worth it.
And using a wet finger to smooth is the way to go no matter what you are using. Wet sanding for larger areas.
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