How to Repair Popped Nails from your Drywall

When you have popped nails on your drywall, it needs some repairing to do. You do not like seeing those damaged walls for long as it will destroy the beauty of your interior. The ceilings and interior walls of most houses are covered with drywall, also known as the gypsum wallboard by those in the construction business. Those nail pops are just normal. Most walls go through this kind of phases – getting dents, cracks, and holes and must be repaired. All you need are some materials, basic tools and a couple of tricks to go with it.

Via buyersask.com
Via buyersask.com

Steps to Repairing Popped Nails

Drywall is usually fastened to ceiling joists and wall studs using drywall nails that have a thing and long shanks and round, large heads. At times, these nails lose its grip, which is why they pop up from the surface. There are a lot of reasons why the nails pop, but most of the time it is when the framing of the wood shrinks, the house has settled, or the nails are not driven that much into the center. Whatever the reason, repairing it is easy. Avoid hammering it back in as there is no guarantee that it will not pop out again.

Use the pliers to yank out the popped nail. The next thing to do is find the exact center of the joist or stud. It can take a while to find it manually, so it is best that you use an electronic stud finder to find it fast. You can also use the finishing nail and a hammer. With these latter tools, the finishing nail only needs to be driven into the drywall up until you can pinpoint the edge of every joist or stud.

Once done, use a cordless driver or drill to drive two of 1-5 or 8-inch coarse-thread screws for drywall use into the center of the joist or stud. Place on the screw for at least 1 inch above the old hole and then put another an inch below that. Drive these screws right below its surface, but make sure that you don’t puncture the paper face of the drywall.

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After that, you use a 4-inch knife that will be used for drywall to apply a thin coating of the joining compound. This will be laid over the area that has been repaired. Leave the coating overnight to dry. This is then followed with sanding it smoothly using a 120-grit of sandpaper. Apply the second coating of the compound, but for this coat, you need to use a 6-inch knife and spread it out a couple of inches over the first coating. After the coating is dry, sand the area again then you can apply the prime and then paint.

Your drywall at this time is fastened with screws instead of nails, but don’t expect it will remain in place. Even screws pop out from the surface as well. When it does happen, use the same repair methods detailed above.

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