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Doing drywall patchwork and accidentally over cut some pieces. Ideally, I would cut along the halfway point of the stud so I can reinforce the existing piece and attach the new patch to the other half of the stud. What should I do in situations where I am over cut like the first two pics and there is no wood behind the existing drywall to reinforce it?

I was thinking about sliding in a taller piece of scrap wood behind the over cut existing drywall so I can stabilize it to itself (like you would do in a patch job) then just screwing the drywall path into the stud by itself.

The other idea was using a 2*4 and attaching it sideways/ perpendicular to the existing stud and essentially making a wider stud face per the last pic. Looking forward to hearing you all's thoughts!

slightly overcut

more overcut

Perpendicular/ sideways 2*4 approach

Howard
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3 Answers3

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Another option:

  • Get some 1x2 or 1x3 (you can use 2x material, but it's not necessary), cut pieces (how many depends on how wide the patch is - 2 should work fine for a 16" stud bay) several inches longer than the hole is tall.
  • Slide the 1x into the hole, hold it in place so it overlaps the existing drywall top and bottom, then run a screw or two through the existing drywall into the strapping behind the wall. Screw it into the existing drywall both above and below the hole.
  • Place your patch up against the strapping and run a couple of screws (as many as necessary based on how tall the patch is), into the strapping.
FreeMan
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As long as it's an interior wall like that without any insulation to displace, any old blocking works fine. Fasten through the existing drywall to attach the block for your piece to bear on top of. I would use scrap 1/2" thickness OSB if I needed to minimize insulation displacement.

popham
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Honestly, the first one I wouldn't even worry about, personally. The second you can just use any old piece of wood as a backing to lap joint both of your drywall pieces, like you've shown.

Either that, or cut back the drywall to the next framing member (being more careful this time) and use a bigger piece of drywall than you'd originally planned.

Huesmann
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