The Lost Art of Wiping Stain
March 21, 2023
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In this week’s video, Nico Basurto demonstrates the Butterfly Patch method. Basurto Painting uses this method to repair drywall damage or building errors. It’s a system akin to making your own puzzle piece when you’re trying to build a puzzle, and a key piece goes missing!
Someone in the process (perhaps the electrician, perhaps the drywaller) forgot to take off an unused electrical box (it has no power line running to it) and left a hole in the sheetrock for an unused electrical box. With the box still in the way, there’s no way to attach the repair work to a nearby solid fixture, as there’s no wooden frame to mount the patching. That creates a problem for the crew as they need to find a means to patch that won’t fall apart during installation.
For this reason, Nico is using a patching method called the Butterfly Patch.
Using sheetrock and a piece of paper, Nico builds a plug that will just manage to fit into the hole in the sheet wall and give a flat surface to work into the wall. Nico then uses the mud (spackle) and a joint knife to seal the hole. The paper’s edges (the butterfly’s ‘wings’) disappear into the wall itself as the mud dries with some work.
As you can see, the drywall piece’s weight begins to push out and cause the piece to warp the wall’s flat horizon. For this reason, Nico has chosen a 20-minute mud. Once the mud has begun to dry and stick, a thin second coat is all it takes to keep the drywall from trying to fall out and ruin the flat wall surface. In the second coat, all lines and warping disappear, leaving behind what appears to be a solid, flat surface. As Nico himself says in the video, “There you go. Not bad for a painter.”
Basurto Painting has many services besides painting, including patching. If you’re ready to put our elevated standards to work for you, please contact us for a complimentary consultation. We look forward to serving you.
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