Patching Sand or Sanded Plaster

handnhammer · Joined: 13 May 2006 Posts: 60 Location: Ann Arbor, MI

I'm planning on moving some light fixtures in our home, which will require tearing out a patch of sheetrock/drywall. I have a bit of experience with patching and taping smooth walls but no experience with sand plaster. I have sand plaster walls and ceilings.

I don't want my patch job to stand out, so does anyone have any recommendations as far a technique, tools, or products?

texturemaker · Joined: 04 Jan 2009 Posts: 1 Location: Cardiff UK

Hi handnhammer

Usually there are two mistakes people make, thus their completed repair work sticks out like a sore thumb.
The first mistake is to overfill the indented wallboard patch, prior to texturing, so that it leaves the patch stand out proud onto the surface, instead of ending up flush with the existing surface.

The second mistake is, the textured finish is usually too heavy in design (too thick & proud onto the patched surface) than the original textured finish is. Plus, some diy ers overshoot, & put the texture finish onto the already textured surface/pattern and this creates a heavy output too.

Because you have a textured finish, and you are trying to blend in the sandplaster it is therefor important to bring the repair of your drywall to the exact level of the existing surface, and this really is quite impossible because your surface is not flat, and this is where the use of a soft paint brush, reguarly dipped into water will come in handy for blending the patched area.

Place in your new patch of board
Trowel in your material to bring it to the level of the existing surface as best you can
Wait for your material to become a little firmer
Use a small (wet) paint brush to gently blend the edges of your repair to the edges of your original surface
This will require a little patience

Then, if you decide to let your patch go completely off prior to attempting the texture, the area will become quite porous, so any other material you put on top of it will dry too quickly for you to pattern, or it may not even adhere at all, so I would suggest you paint on a sealer coat and let this dry off first.

Now if you can get yourself a small container of the original sand plaster just lightly paint it onto your patch, without going too much onto what is already there, very fine work indeed, but I would always recommend you to practice your pattern onto a spare piece of wallboard first to get used to the process and the certain depths for creation.

I do hope this will help you, and please let me know how you get on
Regards Dale

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