My neighbor Bob said wood glue and sawdust fix any hole in drywall. He was kinda right.

I had this ugly hole in my living room wall from where a doorknob slammed into it. Bob told me to just mix some wood glue with sawdust from my miter saw and pack it in there. I tried it on a Tuesday night and let it dry for 24 hours. The patch actually held up but it looked darker than the wall paint even after I primed it. I had to sand it down three times to get it smooth and then use a stain blocker before painting. Bob never mentioned that part so I wasted an evening redoing it. Has anyone else tried this trick and had it work without extra steps?

2 comments

2 Comments

andrew_nguyen642mo agoMost Upvoted

My dad tried this with Elmer's glue once and now that spot's still sticky.

abby_singh2mo ago

Man, that's exactly what I was worried about happening. Have you thought about what temperature the glue was at when he applied it? Hot glue from a gun is totally different than room temperature Elmer's, and the sticky mess comes from using the wrong kind of adhesive for the surface. @andrew_nguyen64 maybe your dad could try a heat gun or a hair dryer on low to soften that stuff up without damaging whatever's underneath. Another angle nobody seems to mention is that Elmer's glue is water based and that's why it stays sticky - it never fully cures like the industrial stuff does. If he's trying to get that spot clean, a little cooking oil or rubbing alcohol might break down the residue way faster than scraping at it.

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