Drywall Repair and Patching in Salt Lake City, Utah

Call (801) 735-8491 or describe the damage in the estimate form: where it is, roughly how big it is, whether water was involved, and what the texture around it looks like.

What a drywall repair involves

Every repair starts with the cause. A crack over a door that keeps coming back, a stain spreading across a ceiling and a doorknob hole each need a different fix, and patching over a leak or a moving wall only hides it for a while.

Small dents and nail holes take compound and a light sanding. For a break too big for compound alone, USG's handbook describes cutting a square around the damage, fitting a matching piece of board on repair clips, then taping all four sides, adding two more coats, sanding and priming.

Some quick patches hold up poorly. USG says the 'California' or 'butterfly' patch, a plug that uses its own face paper as tape, is weaker and harder to finish because it sits above the wall surface, and it should not be used on fire-rated walls.

Why cracks show up in Salt Lake City walls and ceilings

USG lists the usual causes of cracked joints: the structure moving, materials swelling and shrinking with temperature and humidity, and compound that dried too fast. Diagonal cracks that start at the corners of doors, windows and light fixtures come from the same movement, because openings are weak points in a wall.

The ground here moves too. On March 18, 2020, a magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck about 8 miles below Magna, roughly 10 miles west of downtown Salt Lake City. The Utah Geological Survey called it the largest along the Wasatch Front since pioneer settlement in 1847, and the University of Utah Seismograph Stations recorded 2,343 aftershocks by July 9 that year.

A crack that appeared after shaking, or one that keeps widening, needs the structure checked before the wall. National Park Service guidance says diagonal cracks running in opposite directions point to settling and soil, structural problems should be fixed before the finish, and a structural engineer should see any crack that seems to be expanding.

Sample photo

Nail pops and the first heating season

A nail pop is a fastener head pushing up through the compound. USG traces pops to loose fastening, framing lumber shrinking as it dries, or both. Pops that appear after a month or more of heating are usually from shrinkage, and USG advises waiting until near the end of the heating season to repair them.

The lasting fix is to drive a screw about 1-1/2 inches from the popped nail while pressing the board tight to the stud, then tap the old nail just below the surface, recoat and paint. USG calls this more permanent than simply knocking the popped nail back down.

Water damage: when a patch becomes a replacement

With water damage, the first jobs are stopping the leak and drying the area. The EPA's guidance for clean water damage says drywall may be dried in place if there is no obvious swelling and the seams are intact. If it has swollen or the seams have opened, it should be removed, thrown away and replaced, and the wall cavity ventilated if possible.

Speed matters. The EPA's table aims to dry wet materials within 24 to 48 hours to prevent mold, and USG notes that wet gypsum panels can grow mold if they aren't dried quickly, usually within 48 hours. USG also says boards with soft cores should be replaced, and paper that stays loose after drying gets cut away and patched.

That guidance covers clean water. If the water came from sewage or was otherwise contaminated, the EPA notes that OSHA requires protective gear and containment, and that someone experienced with contaminated water should be consulted.

Older Salt Lake City homes: plaster, lath, lead and asbestos

Salt Lake City's homes are older than Utah's as a whole. Census Bureau estimates for 2024 put the median year built at 1972 in the city, against 1994 statewide, and nearly one home in four in the city dates from 1939 or earlier.

Many of those older homes have plaster walls. The National Park Service says plaster was the wall surface for nearly all buildings until the 1930s or 40s, and that plaster over wood lath should be about 3/4 to 7/8 inch thick. A patch of thinner drywall has to be built out to sit flush, and loose ceiling plaster may need plaster washers to pin it back to the lath first.

Older finishes can also hide hazards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission banned patching compounds containing asbestos in December 1977. Under the EPA's lead rule, paid work that disturbs more than 6 square feet of painted surface in a room of a home built before 1978 must follow lead-safe practices, by a firm with EPA or state certification.

Utah adds its own asbestos rule. Contractors generally need an asbestos inspection by an inspector with Utah certification before renovation work (Utah Admin. Code R307-801-9), though Utah's Division of Air Quality says homes of four or fewer units built on or after January 1, 1992 no longer need one.

Matching texture so the patch disappears

A patch only disappears when its texture and paint match the wall around it. USG's handbook is frank that touching up a textured surface so it fully blends is extremely difficult, and that when a touch-up still shows, the answer is to re-texture the whole wall or ceiling.

Primer makes a difference. USG notes that joint compound and the surface around it absorb texture differently, which can show as a band of different color, and that a prime coat before texturing prevents it. Texture goes on only after the patch is fully dry, since USG says texturing over damp compound can darken the joint.

What affects the cost of a drywall repair

Repairs are priced from what the estimate finds. The main factors:

• The size and number of damaged spots
• Walls or ceilings, and how high they are
• The texture that has to be matched, and how much of the wall needs re-texturing to blend
• Water damage that needs drying time or board replaced
• Plaster walls, or testing and lead-safe work in older homes

Questions about drywall repair and patching in Salt Lake City

Can you patch a hole without replacing the whole sheet?

Yes, in most cases. The damaged area is cut back to a square, and a new piece of board is fitted on clips, then taped and finished. A whole sheet comes out when water has swollen it or softened its core.

Can water-stained drywall be saved?

Sometimes. If it dries quickly, isn't swollen and the seams are intact, the EPA says it can be dried in place, then primed and patched. Swollen or soft board should be cut out and replaced.

Is it safe to sand old joint compound in an older home?

Test first. The CPSC banned patching compounds containing asbestos in December 1977, so compound in older walls may contain it, and paint in homes built before 1978 may contain lead. In Utah, contractors generally need an asbestos inspection before renovating homes built before 1992.

Can a cracked plaster wall be patched with drywall materials?

Often, for small damage. The National Park Service says hairline cracks in sound plaster can be filled with joint compound, and cracks that reopen can be bridged with tape and setting compound. Plaster that has come loose from its lath needs reattaching first.