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How to Repair Drywall Ceiling Water Damage – Repair Panel Bracing

Bob Jackson
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by Bob Jackson

How to Repair Drywall Ceiling Water Damage – square up the ceiling hole and mount a wood brace for the repair panel. This repair is continued from How to Repair Drywall Ceiling Water Damage – Part 1.

Drywall Ceiling Repair Steps

I’ve made the rough cut to remove the water damaged part of the drywall ceiling. Pencil lines are marked with a square to true up the repair hole. The pencil lines are marked to partly overlap the suspended drywall ceiling metal runners to provide a flange to mount the repair panel with drywall screws:

Damaged Ceiling Drywall Repair: Repair Panel Hole Rough Cut
Damaged Ceiling Drywall Repair: Repair Panel Hole Rough Cut

The drywall repair panel will be screwed into the bottom of the metal support runners. A utility knife is used to cut the drywall along the squared pencil lines to expose the edge of the runners. Score the drywall paper face then plunge in the blade making a seesaw motion with successive passes. Then make a long deep pass with the blade to complete the cut:

Drywall Ceiling Repair: Cut along the Metal Support Runner
Drywall Ceiling Repair: Cut along the Metal Support Runner

Cut along the other metal support runner:

Drywall Ceiling Repair: Square up the Hole with a Utility Knife
Drywall Ceiling Repair: Square up the Hole with a Utility Knife

The water damaged drywall ceiling is cut away and the hole is squared exposing the two metal support runners:

Water Damaged Drywall Ceiling Repair: Hole for the Repair Panel
Water Damaged Drywall Ceiling Repair: Hole for the Repair Panel

Good view ceiling repair hole with the metal support runners, shower drain that leaked on the drywall ceiling and drain pipe U-bend:

Drywall Ceiling Repair: Water Damaged Area Cut Out
Drywall Ceiling Repair: Water Damaged Area Cut Out

Drywall Ceiling Repair Panel Bracing

A 9in x 4in x 1/2in plywood brace board is installed on the right side of the hole to provide a hard point to fasten the drywall repair panel with screws:

Drywall Ceiling Repair: 1/2 inch Plywood Brace Board
Drywall Ceiling Repair: 1/2 inch Plywood Brace Board

The plywood brace is attached to the ceiling using 1-1/4″ drywall screws and the drywall screw setter bit. I allowed for a generous ~2 inch overlap into the hole to attach the ceiling repair panel.

Drywall Ceiling Repair: Fasten the Support Block with Drywall Screws
Drywall Ceiling Repair: Fasten the Support Block with Drywall Screws

The drywall screw setter is a Philips driver set inside a collar. This automatically sets the drywall screw at the proper depth without tearing through the paper face of the drywall. The countersunk screw can then be covered with joint compound for a perfectly smooth finish.

Drywall Screw Setter Drill Bit
Drywall Screw Setter Drill Bit

Plywood backer brace fastened with two screws. I started to set a 3rd screw in the metal runner and realized the screw head would protrude and prevent the repair panel to not sit flush with the ceiling. The two screws were plenty for the task:

Drywall Ceiling Repair: Plywood Brace and Metal Runners
Drywall Ceiling Repair: Plywood Brace and Metal Runners

SHEETROCK Brand Drywall Repair Clips

Home improvement and hardware stores sell SHEETROCK Brand Repair Clips – these are metal clips that are fit over the edges of the drywall hole to fasten a repair panel with screws. The SHEETROCK clips could be used in place of a wood brace and appear to be structurally sound, avoiding the sagging problem of the self-adhesive metal mesh patches.

This repair is continued in How to Repair Drywall Ceiling Water Damage – Part 3.

Take care,

Bob Jackson

basement ceiling drywall repaircut out damaged drywall ceilinghow to fix hole in drywall ceilinghow to install a drywall patch panel
Bob Jackson
Bob Jackson
Technology product manager by day and a prolific handyman in the evenings and over the weekends. Bob was the founder of the original Handyman How To website and that tradition continues on this site with excellent new handyman content into the future.
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