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Finished drywall is often
"Textured" either for sound deadening or most times, to simply hide an
imperfect taping job.
The second type of color wood putty is made up of resins and actual wood fiber, so it has some structural value. You can use it, for example, to fill in a hole where you’ve removed a fastener, then drill it and install a new fastener in the same location. These types of fillers are available in cans as a thick, premixed paste – keep the can tightly capped at all times, since it dries out quickly when exposed to air. The filler can be cut, drilled and sanded after it dries, but use it sparingly since it dries hard and takes a little work to remove the excess. Once again, select a color that is close to your project, or select neutral and stain it afterward. A word of caution though – while neutral will accept stain, it has no grain to it, so if you try and use it to make repairs in a large area, it will still show up. 3. Dry-mix fillers: Dry-mix fillers such as FixAll and RockHard have a number of uses around the house. They can be used to fill holes in drywall, plaster, wood and a variety of other materials prior to painting, or to even out irregularities prior to the installation of wallpaper or other finish materials.Dry-mix fillers are a soft powder, and are sold in cans, boxes and bags of various quantities. To use, simply mix with clean, cool water until it forms a smooth paste of the desired consistency. Dry-mix fillers dry quickly and very hard, so only mix up as much as you can use in about 15 minutes and clean up your tools right away. The finished material is hard, smooth and dries with very little shrinkage. Once it’s completely dry, it can be sanded, drilled or cut with normal woodworking tools. Even though it’s hard, however, it is not designed to accept fasteners – screws will not hold well in it and it may crack if you try and drive large nails through it. 4. Epoxy: There are a wide variety of epoxies on the market that are designed for filling holes, resetting fixtures or tiles, anchoring fasteners and other types of patch and repair work. Epoxies are found in both liquid and putty form and have two components, a resin and a hardener, which are mixed together in equal proportions just prior to application. The working time after mixing varies with the product, and can range from as little as five minutes to 24 hours or more – never mix more than you can use within the manufacturer’s stated setup time.Liquid epoxies are excellent for filling cracks in concrete and many other types of masonry. Most manufacturers offer the two components in individual bottles or tubes that connect to a common nozzle – pressing down on a joint plunger forces equal amounts of resin and hardener into a mixing chamber and out the nozzle, ensuring a proper mix. All of these fillers – and more – can be found at home centers, hardware stores, lumberyards and other building material retailers. Repairing Small Plaster Cracks and HolesCommon fasteners do not perform too well when used on plaster and the results are often holes or cracks which are unattractive. Settling or shrinking of walls also cause fine cracks. Luckily, small, narrow cracks can be filled with patching plaster or a better grade of lightweight non shrinking ready mixed spackling compound. Avoid joint compound in these cracks. Although it feathers more easily for larger seams, it shrinks more and is not as strong on larger areas.
These are just a few of the options you can choose from when you are deciding on a style of texture you like.
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Send mail to jwhitmer@jjwpainting.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
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One application should
be sufficient for most holes, but the spackle may shrink slightly in larger
holes, requiring a second application. Excess material can be removed with a
light sanding. Spackle will not accept stain, so don’t use it on wood if you
intend to stain it.
