Drywall Hole Repair 1

Drywall Hole Repair 2

Drywall Hole Repair 3

As house painting contractors in the Chicago area, we often have to do significant repairs to drywall surfaces before tackling an interior painting project. The most common reasons that cause holes in the drywall are as follows. First, electricians and plumbers are known to make exploratory holes, or to open walls in order to install new pipes, conduits and electrical boxes. Rarely do they dare to tackle the delicate job of repairing the drywall (thank God!). Also, water damaged drywall, needs to be cut out and therefore leaves gaping holes as well. Over-active teenagers can also on occasion cause drywall damage – I will not mention the many ways this can happen.

How do you professionally repair holes in drywall? First, we square off the hole to a workable size. If the hole is relatively small, from 12 to 15 inch in length, we will create bracing on the sides of the hole by screwing pieces of 2×1 lumber to the edges of the hole. For smaller holes, two braces will suffice. For holes from 4 to 6 inch in diameter, we often use a ready-made patch, made of a light-weight perforated metal and fiberglass mesh. For larger holes, we will attempt to use the studs as part our bracing. In those cases, we still have to use bracing between the studs, on the ends of the opening.

The next step is to cut a piece of drywall, of the same thickness, to fit the opening. We then screw it to the wood braces to secure it in place. We then tape the joints with paper tape and apply two or three coats of joint compound. After properly sanding the area, we spot prime the patched area and repaint the wall or ceiling. The drywall whole has now disappeared! The drywall repair is complete!

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Painted Speaker Cover

Painting parts of the electronic systems, in home and office environments, present special challenges to the interior painting craftsman. In the past week, I had the pleasure of meeting John Baumeister of Tech Tonic at a networking function. As a technology consultant to owners of buildings, John takes his work very seriously. At some point in the conversation, John voiced that one of his pet peeves has to do with mistakes painters often make when painting speaker covers. He queried me regarding the methodology our painters follow when painting speaker covers. I thought I would pass along the information I shared with John.

Our painting experience has been gained over more than twenty years of operation as painting contractors in the Chicago area. First of all, I recommend that the speakers be installed where they belong, prior to any painting, so as to prevent unavoidable touchups. When it is a new installation, we also recommend that the installer leaves off the speaker covers and instead uses the plastic covers supplied by the manufacturer, in order to prevent damage or dust contamination by other trades. For new installations, we also recommend that the installer tags the speaker covers to identify the room and surface they will be mounted on. The installer should also request a signature from the painting contractor (or the owner) when he/she takes possession of the covers. That form should list the covers, quantities and nature of the covers. The use of such a form will limit the opportunity for loss or miscommunication.

Spray Tool for Painting Speaker Covers

What about the painting? Covers will sometime have a liner acoustical fabric on their backside. That fabric should be removed and protected for reinstallation after the painting is completed. The most affective way we have found to paint speaker covers is a simple hand-held spray system called Spra-Tool. It comes with a propellant cartridge, a plastic jar to hold the paint and a connection to bring the propellant to the jar. The paint may have to be thinned ten percent and three thin coats may be required to avoid clogging holes. For darker colors, we recommend to first prime the covers with a bonding primer to ensure good paint adhesion. After the paint has cured, the plastic cover is removed and the custom-painted covers can be installed, for a factory-painted look!

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