If you have an older home that has some structural damage, or if you are starting to notice tiny cracks in the walls, the time to fix these is now, before they get any worse. If the crack is serious, you may need to get the help of a professional, especially if the crack happens to be on a load bearing wall. However, for small cracks that are not serious, you can easily fix this on your own and make your wall look new again.
In most cases, cracks are the result of either hitting the wall too hard, or the plaster may have just cracked. Before you get started, you’ll need sandpaper, a trowel, a scraper and some joint compound. All of these items can be purchased at your local hardware store and most are very low cost. Once you have everything together, it’s time to get started.
Step One –
Sand down the paint around the crack. You need to make sure that the joint compound will be able to form a good bond on the crack, so take your sandpaper and start sanding the paint around the crack in the wall. If you have wallpaper on the wall, you will need to remove it first, and then sand down the surface.
Step Two –
Remove any surface dust. Once you have the area around the crack sanded down, you’ll need to remove any surface dust before going to the next step. A slightly dampened rag works wonders, but just make sure that the wall is dry before you proceed to the next step.
Step Three –
Apply the compound. Open up your tub of joint compound and get your trowel. Place a small amount on the trowel and then start applying the compound to the wall. It’s best to do this in short, shift motions, usually in the pattern of an X. You don’t need to extend the compound too far around the crack, a few inches will do. Keep applying the compound, using your X pattern, until the crack is completely covered over.
Step Four –
Wait for the compound to dry and then sand it down. You will need to wait for the joint compound to dry before you can go any further. It’s a good idea to use your scraper to remove any excess compound to speed this process up. Just take a look at the directions on the tub to see how long you will need to wait. Once it’s dry, sand it down so that it won’t be so obvious once you add paint. Ideally, the compound should be just about flush with the wall.
Step Five –
Repaint or re-wallpaper the area. Once your compound has been sanded down, you can paint or wallpaper the area around and over the crack so that it is not as noticeable. Treat the area with care and gently smooth out any bubbles. If necessary, you may need to sand a bit more, if you didn’t get it completely smooth the first time.
That’s it – your wall has been repaired!
Photo Credit: 1
Originally posted 2008-11-05 05:16:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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