Dry(wall) humor

I was on a roll for a while with blog posts and have severely slacked. No excuse except we stopped on house projects for a while. We have been thinking about moving so need to fix up a few things. Hopefully more posts to come...

So you know when you pull into your garage when you're in a hurry and you run your car into a wall?

Our garage looked like this for the last three years or so. We have a shorter-than-usual garage as it is and when you're in a hurry sometimes you can get careless. We had to patch this good-sized hole with new drywall. Here are the supplies needed:

• scrap drywall (thanks Kevin and Adrienne)
• sanding block (an electric sander would work best)
• drywall tape
• utility knife
• drywall spackle (thanks Ken and Chris)
• spackle knife/putty knife
• yard stick/measuring tape
• pencil
• drywall screws
• screwdriver
• 1x1 scrap piece of wood (*if needed)

Step one: Measure the piece of drywall that needs to be cut out. Measure approximately 2-3in bigger than the original hole. Use a pencil to mark the piece to cut.

Step two: Use the utility knife to cut out the damaged drywall piece.

What it should look like (straighter if you're more experienced)

Step three: Take your piece of scrap drywall and measure to fit.

Step four: Use the utility knife to cut out the appropriate sized piece of drywall. Make sure the piece fits snugly prior to screwing it into the stud or using the piece of 1x1 scrap wood.

Step five: We were fortunate and there was a stud already in place, but if there isn't take a scrap piece of 1x1 wood and a screw to make a make-shift stud. Then take your piece of drywall and use three screws to attached the drywall to the stud.

Step six: Use drywall tape and cover any gaps all the way around.

Step seven: Mix drywall spackle (follow instructions on package) in a spare container (we had a clean old cat litter box) and apply using a spackle knife.

Step eight: Let dry for an hour or two then take your sanding block (or your electric sander) and sand smooth (or as smooth as possible).

Step nine: Paint wall- we are still deciding if we're going to do this step since it was just in the garage. Also as you can see there are other holes (which were there when we bought the house) so we're not sure if it is worth it.

Total cost= $15.00

Moral: Don't be dumb like me and make a hole in the wall with your car. Or else you end up with a tennis ball hanging from the bike rack.