How to Repair Small Holes and Marks on Walls.

We all have done it.  Removed a picture or hanger from a wall, and now there's a small hole where the screws or nails had been.  And while you could use toothpaste to fill it, eventually that will dry out, shrink, and potentially fall out.  Instead of doing that, with a few things from the store and a little time, you can fix them once and for all.

Step 1: Supplies

A few supplies are needed.: A small container of Spackle, a putty knife, paint, small paint brush, plastic knife, towel, water, and a sanding brick.

To get the correct color of paint, if you have a small paint chip take it to your local hardware store and have them color match a small sample container. Make sure the finish you buy is the same as the wall, so note what level of matte to high gloss the room is  If you are planning on painting a room, have a small container mixed at the same time will have a bottle of touch up paint on hand that is a perfect match your room.

Step 2: Filling the Hole.

Mix up a the spackle to make sure it is a smooth consistancy.  You won't need much for a small hole, so only put a little on a corner of the putty knife.  

Step 3:

Completely fill in the holes, using a light pressure.  It will get on the walls around the holes, you can wipe it off with a lightly dampened towel.  Watch out that you don't remove the Spackle from the holes if you do this.

Depending on the size of the hole you may have to do this step a few times to completely fill it.

Read the instructions on your Spackle for drying time. 

Step 4: Sand the Wall.

Once the Spackle is completely dry, lightly sand to make the Spackle blend into the wall.  If your wall is textured, be very careful to not over sand.

Step 5: Paint Prep.

With the plastic knife, mix up the paint to a smooth consistency and color.  Over time paint has a tendency to separate, so it is very important that the paint is completely remixed.   

Step 6:

You can then use the knife as a small pallet to help you when painting the wall instead of carrying the paint container around the room.  Lightly dab the paint on the repair. Depending on the color, it may take a few coats of paint to get it to blend into the paint around it.  You may also want to dry feather the paint to blend it in more.

If you have other small marks in the room that also need to be touched up, this is a great time to do it.  If you need more paint, just dip your plastic knife back into the paint container.

Step 7:

Now you're done.  Sit back and relax.

Comments

[Fix-itGuy]

Sanding isn't the best way since you can't get spackle out of the fine wall surface texture and the putty mark always shows up. Instead, use a wet rag to clean the wall after spackling the hole. This video will show you how: https://youtu.be/Psr04N9glG8

[coolcatz19]

What color paint is this and where did you get it? It is the exact color of my wall and i can not find any swatches that match. Ive gotten about 30 different swatches from white to off and its a no go.

[GinaB2]

One suggestion: not everyone is a good speller, so it's a good idea to run the spellchecker before posting. Two examples: "consistency", not "consistancy" and "palette", not "pallet".

[janemillerboston]

Recently I have just done such repairing for my bed room, but unfortunately it was not as smooth as you have shown here. I was thinking for plastering as an alternative solution. But now after seeing this post I have decided to go for repairing according to your guidelines.