Redecorating can be a fun project until you remove a couple of pictures from the wall. I recently moved an old picture off the wall and can you believe it, I found 3 more hidden nail holes behind the frame. So what can I do? I could either place the picture back up on the wall or patch the nail holes.
Fortunately there are two options you can choose from to patch a simple nail hole in drywall. But before deciding what method is best, you should perform a little easy maintenance first before starting your repair project. You might notice small pieces of dry wall sticking out around the hole like I did. This is very easy to take care off, all you have to do is sand paper the surface, then take out the vacuum and vacuum up all the dust and any crumbly dry wall. Next, you wipe off the surface with a damp rag, and you are done preparing.
The Toothpaste Solution
Toothpaste is great for your teeth and for your wall. One of the simplest solutions to repairing a nail hole in drywall involves using toothpaste. You take toothpaste and push as much as you can to fill up the hole, scrape off any remaining paste to make a nice smooth surface and then let the paste dry. Toothpaste really looks surprisingly similar to spackling and does not shrink like caulking does.
Spackling to the Rescue
The second method takes a little more ingenuity and involves spackling and is more permanent than toothpaste.
First, you take a putty knife and apply a coat of spackling compound right over the hole making sure to scrape off any remaining spackling.
You let the compound dry over night and sand. Now you can paint the newly repaired nail holes to match the existing wall. Patching nail holes in existing drywall is not exactly difficult. All you need is a little time and a trip to the home improvement store.