Ok! I learned this tip from a very close friend that will remain unnamed due to his already expansive ego.
Today I was working to get a beautiful house ready to go on the market! It is in very good shape with the typical wear and tear that a ten year old house will show. Dings and dents in the drywalled entryways, nail holes from pictures, pet boredome damage and the occasional, take your frustration out on the drywall, fist hole or two.
So when you have a hole that's as large as a fist, what do you do? I like to use a butterfly patch made from a sheet rock scrap.
First, square off the fist shape into something a little more manageable.
A rectangle will work. Measure the dimensions of your rectangle. Now cut from a scrap piece of drywall a rectangle that is two inches bigger on all sides.
On the back side of your piece center the size of your hole. Mark your lines from edge to edge of the drywall piece. Now, using a razor knife score your lines through the paper and half way through the gypsum. Like this....
Now snap the drywall and peal the edges from the paper facing of your scrap piece. You should have a patch with the exact size of your hole on the center and two inches of the facing paper on the front to overlap your hole.
I needed to patch this and coat it the same day so I used 20 minute hot mud to set the patch. If you have time , premixed mud will work just the same. So mud your wall.
Slap your patch in the hole and gently seat the paper edge into the mud nice and flat. Drag your knife along the paper pressing to squeeze extra mud out and leaving a flat surface to second coat!
Now you'll be ready to third coat and sand. This is a great drywall repair technique in a pinch for small holes.