Best way to fix these holes

Stay away from the ready mixed fillers, theyre a nightmare to sand down. Pack the deeper holes out with wet kitchen roll, poke it in with a screwdriver. Then mix some powder filler, (tetrion or pollycells pollyfilla are my personal choices at work). Fill the holes slightly proud to allow for shrinkage and sanding. On the deeper holes were the surface skim coat has came away, build the layers of filler up gradually until you get them level.
 
I actually prefer the ready mixed fine surface fillers for small holes. The Polycell one (at least) sets quite quickly and allow you to build up the layers with a good filler knife to a flush finish with minimal sanding.
 
As someone who has had many chances to try out fillers (honestly my DIY is getting better!), I can only recommend one:

http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/decora...se-Powder-Filler-900g-10548816?skuId=11039348

Used this the other week when I removed my TV from the wall. I have used ready mixed ones previous on holes when I removed speakers which proved to be a nightmare! This stuff however has made a fantastic job, and you would not tell there was once massive channels (where cabling once was) and holes in the wall.
 
Theyre ok for small holes. The good thing with the powder fillers is that you can mix it to various consistencys depending on the depth of hole being filled. A stiff drier mix for deep holes or a thinner mix for slight surface holes or hairline settling cracks.
 
1. Hoover out the holes to get all the dust out of them
2. Mix up some all purpose filler
3. Slop the filler into the holes, the bigger one will probably need a few layers.
4. Give it 24-48 hours to dry properly.
5. Sand down the filler so it's nice and flush with the wall, might aswell sand down any other little blemishes on the walls while you're there.
6. Re-paint the wall/room, you'll never match the paint properly :(

Et Voila, won't take more than a few hours across a few days :)
 
If it's a rented flat, I'd be doing the bare minimum required to retain my deposit. I doubt that a perfect paint match would be needed, and I certainly wouldn't be bothering with a full room redecoration (unless it was forced upon me by a hawk-eyed landlord). The landlord might redecorate before the next tenant moves in anyway so might not be that bothered.
 
Robbie G said:
If it's a rented flat, I'd be doing the bare minimum required to retain my deposit. I doubt that a perfect paint match would be needed, and I certainly wouldn't be bothering with a full room redecoration (unless it was forced upon me by a hawk-eyed landlord). The landlord might redecorate before the next tenant moves in anyway so might not be that bothered.
Click to expand...

Precisely. It's a shared flat and I'm the only one moving out so the landlady won't even check the room. So long as it's decent enough for the next tenant then I'm happy.
 
Should I not be making it decent enough for the next tenant? :confused:

All I mean is it's not like an agency is going to be round running their hands over the wall and raping me for my deposit if it's not perfectly smooth/matched or the work wasn't carried out by a professional or something. I'll leave it as I'd be happy to receive it.
 
I have done a fair bit of decorating of late and have managed to perfect my filling efforts which in the past have always been visible once painted and generally looked lousy
The filling is the easy bit to a certain extent. What ensures a clean finish is to use the right grade of sandpaper so you are almost polishing the the filled area. Start with a something like a 100-120 grit to remove the bulk of the excess filler and then refine it down with higher grades. If you find small bits of the filled area come away and leave little dinks in the filler when you start sanding, apply a slightly sloppy filler mix, let it dry thoroughly and then sand again. Also, there is little point in just brushing on a bit of paint to cover the filler. A rollered finish leaves a texture in the paint, so any brushed paint is going to show in any area that is reasonably well lit. A bit OTT but I would probably run a roller over the whole wall.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom