What’s the trick to getting a drywall patch smooth?

[jumpyg]

I have been working on repairing a 6″ square hole in my bathroom drywall. I used the method of attaching a piece of wood behind the hole, then screwing a piece of drywall to the wood so that the patch would be level with the surrounding wall. Then I covered the seems with mesh drywall tape and applied joint compound. I sanded it, then applied compound and sanded again. After the second sanding, I could still see the mesh coming through. I applied another coat of joint compound and am waiting 24 hours to sand it again.

The question is: how do I sand these seems so that I’m not going all the way down to the mesh tape? If I sand too much, I see the mesh of the tape. If I sand too little, the wall will not be even. What is the trick here?

Thanks for any help!

[Unregistered-Rocket Scientist]

No trick. You need to cover the entire patch (not just the taped seams) and extend your compound out beyond the 6 in. sq. by about 8- 10 inches on all sides and feather it down to nothing on the perimeter. The object is to not make the patch even with the surrounding drywall, but to blend it out far enough to “fool” the eye that it is.

[Giddaymate]

Hi, I have just repaired a large hole is my family room and I got it completely smooth.
I did what you did by puttin a patch behind it but there is no need to use drywall tape. If you can pull the tape off and fill in were the tape was. Then when its dry you can sand it smooth with the rest of the wall.

[Author]

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