On Jan 26, 5:12*pm, "Pete C." wrote:
RogerT wrote:

hr(bob) wrote:

Put a 20 x 10 inch piece of 1/2 or 3/4 plywood thru the hole,
diagonally so it will go thru, and then rotate it so that it covers
the hole. *Use 4 drywall or sheetrock, they're both the same, screws
in the 4 sides to hold the plywood in place. *A drywall screw in the
middle of the plywood before putting it thrui the hole will make it
easier to position and hold until the 4 perimeter screws are in place,
then remove the handle. * Now cut a piece of new drywall to fit the
opening, and use 4 drywall screws to screw the new drywall to the
plywood. *Use some drywall compound, any brand will do, mixed with a
little white glue and force it into the seam between the old and new
drywall. *Wait overnight for that to dry, and then tape the seam and
mud over the patch until it blends in with the rest of the ceiling.
Any brand of drywall mud is fine, *the trick is to use several layers
and sand between each layer. *A light held to the side but close to
the ceiling will show any irregularities. *A couple of coats of paint
and you will be a hero.

Yes, what he said.

And, here are some YouTube videos describing the same basic technique:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pedAiIzFZhM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w2ac118Fho

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZW64rfhNQM

I don't know about the part where it says to add salt to the mix to make it
dry fast. *I never heard of that one before.

I highly recommend using a setting type drywall compound for patching.
They come in several different set times, just use the one you are most
comfortable with, all are vastly faster than the drying type pre-mixed
compound. I used the 30 minute variety the last time I had a bunch of
work to do and by the time I finished going around the room with the
first coat, it was just about ready to sand where I had started.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

When making a repair like this, the easiest thing to do is to cut the
opening
out so that you have access to some of the joists that are already
there to screw
in a new piece of drywall. Assuming, it's drywall you have. Google
is your
friend. You also have the option of first screwing a couple pieces
of
wood that is about 1 x 1 or so to one or more existing joists. Then
you can screw
the new piece of drywall to the new wood or existing joists, etc
depending
on what you have to work with, how the joists run, etc. Use drywall
screws.

Then you apply tape over the joints, I prefer the sticky mesh type
tape, and then apply
drywall mud into and over it. As pointed out, there are a variety of
choices for
that. I generally use standard joint compound, but if you want to do
it
quickly and don't want to wait for it to dry overnight, etc, there are
faster
setting versions.

One thing you definitely need is a wide drywall kife. Looks like a
big, wide
putty knife, like 14" wide. That is essential to taper out the final
coat and
make it blend into the existing ceiling. Google and I'm sure you'll
find how to
do it videos. Essentially, you need 3 coats. First is to go over
the tape
that covers the joints. NExt coat is wider, and last coat is where
the 14"
knife comes in.

I prefer to wet sand it with a sanding sponge instead of dry sanding
it to
avoid the dust.