Drywall Nail Pops, or How To Complicate a Simple Repair

You’ve almost certainly seen plenty of them—those little pimple-like bumps in a drywalled wall or ceiling. Just as likely is that you’ve noticed little indentations in a drywalled surface. Both are common problems stemming from the nails or screws used to attach the drywall to framing beneath.

Some people just learn to live with things like this. Others, like me, become obsessed with them to the point where a repair becomes necessary for continued sanity.

This is really a simple repair, as I’ve explained in this instructional article. But there is one matter that can turn it into a big undertaking, and that is the paint. Yes, painting is easy. But matching paint can be a pain in the neck.

I always recommend that when you paint a room, you be sure to put some extra paint in storage for times like this. If you have a whole bunch of small pops to repair, the finished project will look good as new if you can exactly match the original paint job. If you have to go to the paint store to try and match the paint, however, there is a very good chance that you will not be happy with the results. In a case like this, it’s probably best to save the nail pop repairs until you are ready to paint the whole room.