A towel bar in my bathroom pulled out of the wall at 8 AM on a Tuesday. The anchor had ripped a hole about the size of a nickel through the drywall, leaving a crater and a pile of white dust on the floor. I had guests arriving at 5 PM.

I learned that day that patching a small hole is fast. What takes time is waiting for spackle to dry. The actual hands-on work is maybe ten minutes spread across a few hours of drying time.

What you need

Spackle — the lightweight kind in a small tub, not the heavy joint compound meant for taping seams. A putty knife, two or three inches wide. A sanding sponge, fine grit. Touch-up paint if you have it.

Total cost: under $15 if you own none of this already. Most of it will last for future repairs.

The process

Step one (2 minutes): Remove any loose debris from the hole. Peel away torn paper and broken drywall fragments. If the hole has a raised ridge around the edge from whatever punched through, push it in with the handle of your putty knife so it’s slightly recessed, not protruding.

Step two (3 minutes): Scoop a dollop of spackle onto the putty knife. Press it into the hole, then draw the knife across the surface to level it. Leave it slightly proud of the wall — a tiny bump, maybe a millimeter — because spackle shrinks as it dries. Overfill a little, sand it flat later.

Step three (30-60 minutes): Wait. Do not touch it. Do not poke it to see if it’s dry. Set a timer. The spackle changes color slightly as it dries, going from wet beige or pink to bright white.

Step four (2 minutes): Sand the patch with the sanding sponge. Light pressure, circular motions. Run your finger over it — if you can feel the transition between patch and wall, sand a little more. Wipe away dust with a dry cloth.

Step five (1 minute): Paint. If you have matching paint, dab it on with a small brush or your finger. If you don’t, a small sample jar color-matched at the hardware store costs about five dollars.

When to use mesh instead

If the hole is larger than a nickel but smaller than a fist, spackle alone might sag. Stick a self-adhesive mesh patch over the hole first, then spackle over it. The mesh gives the spackle something to grip. Same process, just with a reinforcement step.