Pro Handyman Blog

Most of us have been tenants at one point, and that means filling holes in drywall. Landlords want the house returned to them in a rentable condition and the less they have to do, the more of your deposit you will get back. Filling nail holes in drywall takes very little time and is something most landlords expect.

Spackle is lightweight and dries quickly; typically you can paint in 15 minutes. Filling nail holes can go quickly if you are careful about applying the spackle.

I use as little spackle as is necessary to fill the hole. Remember, these holes are very small and so you don’t need much spackle. You want to avoid creating a bigger eyesore than the hole already does. I would rather see a small nail hole rather than a 2 inch smear on the wall from spackle. If the wall is textured, you will be left with a big flat spot in the middle of a textured wall, when all that was wrong was a tiny nail hole.

Use a small putty knife (a big putty knife will encourage you to use too much). Get a little spackle on the corner of the putty knife and push it into the hole. The idea is to fill the hole so that it is flush with the surrounding surface without getting spackle on the surrounding surface. I know, easier said than done. Spackle is water based, and if you do get a blob of it on the wall, use a damp sponge and wipe it off. If you are lucky, you won’t need to touch up the paint. By the way, in a pinch you can use toothpaste as a nail hole filler.