I put a chair through the wall. Not on purpose. I was moving furniture, tripped over a rug, and the chair leg punched a hole about the size of my fist straight through the drywall. My landlord was going to notice.

The good news: drywall is one of the easiest things to repair. It is basically chalk covered in paper. The bad news: if you just slop spackle in a large hole without backing, it falls out the back. Here is how to do it right.

Assess the Hole Size

Small holes — nail holes, screw holes, dents under a quarter-inch — need only spackle. One thin coat, sand, done.

Medium holes — up to about 4 inches — need a mesh patch kit. These cost $6 at any hardware store and include a self-adhesive mesh patch and a small container of joint compound.

Large holes — bigger than 4 inches — need a piece of actual drywall cut to fit plus joint tape and compound. This is a bigger project than the 30-minute fix I am describing here, but still DIY-able with patience.

The Medium Hole Fix (Most Common)

1. Cut away loose paper and crumbled drywall around the hole with a utility knife. Clean edges stick better.
2. Stick the mesh patch over the hole — it should extend about an inch past the edges all around.
3. Spread joint compound over the mesh with a putty knife — thin coat, feather the edges. The goal is not to fill everything in one pass.
4. Let it dry completely — at least 2 hours, overnight is better.
5. Lightly sand with fine-grit sandpaper. Wipe dust with a damp cloth.
6. Apply a second, slightly wider coat. Feather the edges even more this time. Dry. Sand.
7. If the patch is still visible, one more very thin coat. Three thin coats always look better than one thick one.

Paint to Match

If you do not have the original paint, chip off a quarter-sized piece of the painted drywall paper and take it to the paint store for color matching. Most stores do this for free. The match is never perfect — sunlight fading means the wall color has shifted — so plan to paint corner to corner on that wall for the cleanest result.

My landlord never noticed the repair. Either it was that good or he was being generous. I choose to believe it was the first one.