How to repair holes in plaster
As you may have seen previously on my YouTube channel, I have done a few videos on repairing holes in walls and plasterboard using everything from Easi-Fill to Proroll. This got me a load of grief on Facebook - guys it was an EXPERIMENT!
I’ve had a load of repairs to do on the recent kitchen renovation. To name but a few, cracks in the wall after the steels went and re-channeling for electrics were both instances where I revisited an old product, and the results were surprising.
In today’s blog, I want to explain a few of the techniques I’ve used to patch repair walls and plasterboard on this project, from the completely bonkers to the more traditional. I’ll explain the tools I’ve used and how to navigate the overwhelming array of fillers on the market. So do not fear! This will help you find the right filler for your job.
WHAT needed repairing?
Being completely honest, when the steels went in, the kitchen the walls above weren’t properly supported which caused some pretty nasty cracks in the kids’ bedrooms and corridors. In the kitchen itself, I had holes to fill where the lights were previously put in the wrong place. We had two cables we couldn’t connect power to because we couldn’t find the other end so we’ve had to reroute the cables, and finally we decided after all to put under-cupboard led strips which needed yet more channelling.
what filler should you use?
My choice of filler the last 10 years has been Easi-fill which you mix with water. It comes in different versions depending on how quickly you want it to set or the size of the job.
As you can see above, these come in small bags like today’s Tetrion, so you’re not going to have loads going off if you only need a small amount for a job. Occasionally I’ve deviated to other products like Toupret. But in my son’s room when the world map he had up was removed taking the paint with it, I had a pot of Axus Finesse Surface Filler which worked pretty well, but either the filler or the paint did blow more of the paint in a couple of instances.
Unfortunately, this time round I had nothing that was in date. If it’s been lying around for a while like my filler had it can take longer to set, or can set too quickly. So I popped down to my local DIY store in the next village and picked up some Tetrion all purpose filler. I haven’t used this stuff for years - for some reason I had got it into my head it was inferior to the other ones I’d used but as it was there, and comes in these small bags like the Easi-Fill I mentioned previously, you don’t risk it going off if you only need a small amount.
But what are the other options?
Well if you’re an occasional DIYer the range is confusing to say the least, as may have seen from my YouTube video when I visited Brewers last week to try and find some paint for these LED profiles.
Very light, almost snow like pre-mixed filler such as Tourpet Quick Fill which is easy to smooth but no good for drilling.
Then you’ve got denser, all purpose premixes as shown above which impressively has been in my cellar for a couple of years and is still looking pretty good.
I tend to steer clear of tubed premix, which is great for convenience, but in the past I’ve found it is susceptible to shrinking.
And that’s why I favour the powdered fillers that you mix with water - as I’ve never had a problem with shrinkage.
What’s likely to put you off from using these?
Convenience - but come on it takes about 3 minutes to mix this stuff!
Skill - Not getting the quantities right. Tetrion says 2-2.5 parts filler to one part water but I’ve never really followed this for mixing small quantities.
The Golden Rule:
Use a very small amount of water as it’s pouring in too much water that makes you mix too much filler.
Or you could put the filler into the pot first like I have shown in previous videos, and then add the water to the filler. That way you’re in control of the amount you mix. The pros won’t like this technique as you’re alway meant to add the filler to the water but even doing that you still end up adding extra powder to get the mix right, so it makes no odds which way round you go when you’re only mixing small quantities. So don’t be put off using powdered fillers.
Tools
At risk of stating the obvious, these are key to a good result!
A small tool - for mixing the filler and tooling it into tricky spaces. One of the most useful tools I own.
A set of continental filler knives - because no filling job should be done without these.
Sand paper - 180 grit but this filler is quite messy when you sand it, so if you want a mess free result invest in a random orbit sander and connect it up to your vacuum. That way there is no dust created.
Don’t worry if you haven’t got a sander/ Wrap a piece of sand paper around a block of wood - rubber sanding blocks are comfortable but I find they can lead to a slightly concave finished surface to prefer a solid piece of wood
If you want to be really snazzy get yourself a plasterers hawk - you’ll need this anyway for larger jobs to use with a plasterers trowel
Filling
So how did I get on with the Tetrion?
It was absolutely brilliant! It set rock hard as you might have seen in my YouTube video, and sanded beautifully. Setting time is a good 2 hours, although I generally left it overnight before sanding. Try and leave the filler sticking out a little above the surface, then sand it back and if there are any areas that weren’t high enough you simply go over them with a bit more filler. Sand that back and you’ve got a perfect repair ready for painting.
I had a few other holes to patch, with which I experimented with foam but a far stronger fix was to insert a wooden batten. For an electrical back box I put in the wrong place I improvised with some foam spray before gluing the piece of plasterboard in place and temporarily fixing it with screws whilst the foam set.
In the kids bedrooms, we had some pretty massive areas to fill as well as smaller cracks, and the Tetrion worked great for both. For big areas, I upgraded to a plasterers trowel and hawk, for smaller areas I used one of the continental filler knives.
They say apply in layers of no less than 3mm and no more than 10 but I don’t stick to that. I do vary the amount of water I add depending on how deep the repair is. This is yet another reason why fillers you have to mix yourself are so superior to the ready mixes.
So here’s my advice to you:
Don’t get too intimidated by the range of fillers because products like this Tetrion, or if you prefer the Easi-Fill or Toupret do most jobs fine.
Once again, a huge thank you for reading. I hope this helps with any uncertainty or hesitation you may have on using filler, and if you are new to my channel, don’t forget to subscribe here to stay up to date on new exciting videos!
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