So you are getting ready to move out of your apartment and you desperately need to get your damage deposit back. But first you need to fix that ugly hole in the living room wall—the one you covered with the velvet Elvis painting.
There are many causes of cracks, holes, dents, and blemishes to drywall—from careless visitors to nail pops. But there is only one real solution to repair them—with the proper spackle!
You know nothing about spackle. And your wife wants you to repair all the damaged walls this weekend. What is a newbie do-it-yourselfer to do? What is the best spackle for drywall?
The good news is that there several very good spackle products on the market. The right one for you depends on your exact needs. Do you need a fast-drying product? Do you need one that covers a large area or a deep hole? Maybe you need one that doesn’t require a primer?
Or maybe you need a product that tells you when it is dry? Or one that can patch wood, cement or tile in addition to drywall? Maybe you need the product in a tub rather than a tube?
So here are four great spackle products that you should seriously consider depending on your needs:
1. 3M Patch Plus Primer
3M Patch Plus Primer is a spackle compound product that packs spackle and primer in one easy to use product.
That means 3M has eliminated the need to paint the area with primer before painting. It based on the latest 3M technology which is extremely fast drying—much faster than any other spackle.
Fast drying means a lot more holes can be repaired in a shorter amount of time.
Pros
Cons
3M Patch Plus Primer dries the fastest. Most jobs will be dry in 30 minutes or less. If you have a lot of small repairs to make in a short amount of time, it is the best.
2. DAP Crack shot Interior/Exterior Spackling Paste
DAP Crack Shot Spackling Paste is a high-performance professional-grade spackle compound that is well suited for both interior and exterior patch jobs.
The product is particularly good for patching walls with small dents, scratches, nicks, and holes.
It is a good, basic all-round spackle and costs less than most of the other spackles.
Pros
Cons
DAP Crack Shot is the most economical in the category. So if you are pinching your pennies, it is the best choice.
3. DAP DryDex Spackling Paste
DAP DryDex Spackling is another spackle compound product that is well suited for both interior and exterior patch jobs.
But DryDex has one big difference from the other spackle products.
It has a patent-pending way of indicating when it is thoroughly dry. When the product is applied it is pink in color and changes its color to white to indicate it is thoroughly dry!
A patch that is painted before the spackle is thoroughly dry will fail. So many users love this “fail-safe” color change mechanism in DryDex to indicate the patch is dry.
Pros
Cons
DAP DryDex is the best at indicating when it is thoroughly dry.
That feature alone will save you from the biggest failure of spackle do-it-yourselfers—painting over wet spackle. And of all the spackles, it is the easiest to use.
But buy it in the tub container since it is extremely difficult to squeeze spackle out of the tube.
4. DAP Flexall Wall Repair
DAP Flexall isn’t really a spackle compound.
It is actually a filler that can be used as a spackle. Because it is a filler it dries much harder than any of the other spackle compound products reviewed.
And it can be used on many materials other than drywall.
Of all the products reviewed here, it is the best suited to cover large surfaces and fill deep holes. It can also be used to stop water leaks in skylights, roofs, and rain gutters.Pros
Cons
DAP FlexAll is the best for covering large surfaces or filling deep holes. It also can be used for more than just drywall. But it takes the longest time to dry.
Bottom Line
Which of these four products is the best spackle for drywall for that hole in your wall? Well, it really depends on your exact needs. With the exhaustive reviews and comments about each product, you should now be able to pick your desired one.
And don’t worry! If you only have a small nail pop, crack or hole to cover, then they all will do a great job!
Leave a Reply