When it comes to keeping the interior of your home looking fresh and well cared for, painting and repairing holes and damage to your drywall make a huge difference. Drywall is easily damaged by a bump from the corner of a piece of furniture to a child deciding to see what happens when they kick the wall with roller blades on. Deciding when to call in a professional to fix the damage depends on how lengthy the job will be and if it requires special skills.

Doing it yourself

Depending on how severe and what kind of damage has been done to your drywall, you may want to hire a professional to do the repairs instead of attempting to do them yourself. For small holes made by the doorknob smacking the wall when opened with too much force or small cracks from small shifts in the house, applying joint compound and/or a simple peel and stick repair patch can easily be done by even an inexperienced homeowner. Many of the patch kits that can be bought at your local hardware store have everything you need to fix the hole in your wall.

By cleaning up the hole, be careful not to hit any electrical cords that may be hidden inside the wall. Fill the hole with a painter's putty or joint compound. Once it dries, sand over where the hole was until the surface is completely smooth. You can spackle over this, prime, and then finally paint, completely concealing where the damage was in the wall.

But if there are bigger holes that require replacing drywall, calling in the professionals will definitely be worth it to get the wall repaired without any evidence that there was ever an issue in the first place.

Calling a professional

Drywall can be quite heavy and awkward to deal with and move into the right place. If large swaths of the wall have sustained water damage or are left broken and in shambles, all of the damaged drywall must be cut away and removed. An experienced handyman will carefully measure the new piece of drywall so it will cover the piece just removed. After screwing the new drywall into place, the professional will tape the seam and apply a thin layer of drywall mud or spackle. After drying and applying another layer, the professional handyman will sand down any rough edges, prime, and paint the new piece of drywall to match the rest of the wall.

If you are wondering if you should hire a professional to complete a drywall repair in your home, first decide how big the project is, and how difficult it will be for you to complete. If it seems like a fairly simple project, practicing some home maintenance on a small job will help you learn some basic and helpful skills. But if you know you do not have the time or energy for a big drywall repair job, do not hesitate to call the professionals. For Northern California residents, call D&D Painting to make any drywall repairs needed.