Saturday, October 24, 2009

Drywall Fix.......popped nail/screw heads

Drywall Fix......popped nail/screw heads. What now? There are some does & don'ts for this particular drywall fix. Can you fix this drywall problem....easily? Yes & no.....if you don't do it right. Here's the does & don'ts:

* Don't: Do not think you can simply put some spackle over the popped heads for this drywall fix. The nail/screw head is already loose. What makes you think that your spackle will permanently solve this drywall fix? The same thing will happen later on....think about it.

* Do: For this drywall fix, locate the visible head, determine if the head is a nail head or screw head. If it's a nail head, take a nail set & sink the nail into the stud just a little bit (in order to make the nail head tight into the wood). If it's a screw head, remove some of the sheetrock mud & tighten down this screw. This is a good technique for this type of drywall fix.

* Don't: For this drywall fix, do not think that you can just tap the top of the nail in a little bit & think that it's tight into the wood. In most cases, the nail will still be "loose". It's just going to be below the surface a little that's all. Once you put spackle over this (or whatever you choose to do for the drywall fix), the nail will magically reappear later on down the road, because the nail is still loose & moving around. Trust me...the nail will poke it's crafty little head up again in the future. Maybe not right away but soon enough. You've got to use a nail set for these pesky nails OK?

* Do: To continue the drywall fix, install a sheetrock screw (use the "coarse" threaded ones...if you are going into a wood wall) above & below the nail head location. This will "snug" up the drywall wall area above & below the previous loose nail/screw. Install the screw so the head of the screw does not break the drywall skin. If it does break the skin, install another screw & make sure this one sinks tight & not breaking the drywall face but yet down far enough so that you can patch over it will your drywall fix material.

* Don't: For this drywall fix, I would "encourage" (& I mean strongly encourage) you "NOT" to use drywall nails above & below the visible loose nail/screw head. Install screws not nails for the drywall fix (as previously explained above). Several things could occur if you use nails to fix the drywall....all being bad! You could crack the other side of the wall while banging the nail in (if the stud is rock hard). You could expose more nail/screw heads just by banging the new drywall nails in thereby causing more damage to your wall. You could dislodge your favorite piece of artwork (I didn't think that would happen......too bad). You could hit a knot in the existing stud causing a richochete motion in the wall causing other unknown damage or even cracking the stucco on the other side of the wall (if there is stucco......I didn't know stucco could crack so easily). You could knock the clock off the other side of the wall (& it was your Mom's favorite clock.....she told you to be careful too...didn't she....& you said you would, ugh). You could wake up the baby that was soundly sleeping in the other room.....you know the baby that it took hours to finally get to go to sleep?....that one (I won't have to tell you if that's a bad thing). And the list goes on. Whatever could happen.....will happen.....cuz it's you! Everything happens to you remember? I don't usually go on this long with one thought but I wanted you to get the "full monty" of what I am telling you here. Screws are your friends. Remember that!

* Don't: For this drywall fix, you better not think you have to call in someone & pay them to complete this drywall fix for you. You can do this. Re-read this article/post & get to work. If you have any questions, don't be bashful about leaving a comment for me at the bottom of this post OK?

* Now, to complete your drywall fix..........put a little repair material over those babies, dab a little touch up paint on (two coats now) & your drywall fix will be history.

* Do: Sit back, put your feet up & relax a little. You just did a drywall fix all by yourself....& it turned out pretty good too. You are now "in the know" & "no one" can take "that" away from you.

Want to get some painting tips on how to paint your drywall fix? Click here then!

Fix On!

VideoJoeKnows

2 comments:

  1. Well, this can be a kind of level-work but I agree with you, with the proper knowledge it is a sure thing that you can fix it by your own.

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  2. Hello Mr. "Stucco Inspector",

    Thanks for taking the time to post your comment! :0

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