Ideas for Patching the Cracks in Your Walls

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Has your home been around for a while? A few years at least? It’s entirely possible that by now you’ve noticed that the walls have started to show some wear and tear. One of the most common signs of this is finding cracks beginning to form in the walls. These can be caused by several things, such as settling foundations, weather changes, or even just normal wear and tear from people living and playing in the house. People bang either themselves or objects into walls and it has the ability to leave anything from minor to major cracks behind. Here are a few ideas for patching the cracks in your walls after you find them.

Drywall Mud

Drywall mud is a great material for filling in cracks that you can paint to match your wall. If the gap is over two inches wide, first cut it, so it’s only about 1/8 inch wide with a utility knife. A couple of passes with 100-grit sandpaper will help smooth it out. You might even be able to use spackle instead of drywall mud, but it has a shorter dry time and is harder to sand, meaning you’ll have less time to fill the crack and a harder time smoothing it down.

Water-Based Spackling Paste

The water-based spackling paste is another great choice for filling cracks in your walls. It’s also easy to sand and paints well. You might want to use a filler specifically made for filling in cracks, which will dry faster than spackling paste.

Filler Stick

A filler stick has the same basic ingredients as spackle or drywall mud, but it’s in a convenient stick form. It can be applied with your fingers and is specifically designed to fill in small cracks. Just rub it into the crack, wipe off the excess with a wet cotton swab or rag, and let dry until a film forms on top of the filler. Sand this smooth before painting.

Wall Foam

Spray Polyurethane foam, a product provided by many home improvement companies, like Everest Systems, is great for filling bigger cracks that would otherwise take an intensive and invasive amount of patching. This is especially true if there are also gaps under the cracks, leaving more space that needs to be filled. You can just spray the foam to fill in the spaces and even out your wall, let it dry, and sand the product down until smooth before painting over the cracks and the foam to hide the patch.

Plastic Wall Tiles

If you have a large crack in the wall, a plastic wall tile might not be your best choice. But if it’s a small one, it can work well. They’re made to go on walls and stay without much trouble. Cover the crack completely with adhesive from a tube or caulking gun. Press the patch into place, and touch it up with paint.

There are many materials you can use to patch any cracks you’d inevitably find in and along your walls, and each has its advantages. New cracks will probably need to be repaired eventually, but these suggestions should hold for a while. The type of filler that works best for the job at hand will depend on the size and location of the crack.

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