Just realized I've patched the same spot in my garage drywall three times

It's a corner by the water heater that keeps getting bumped, and after the third repair I measured the total area of all the patches. It came to exactly 2.5 square feet of mud and tape over the years. What's the actual fix here, just build a corner guard out of some scrap lumber?

3 comments

3 Comments

alicecraig10d ago

Build a corner guard but also consider moving the water heater a few inches if possible. That permanent gap might be cheaper and easier than constantly fixing the wall. Sometimes the best protection is just getting the thing out of the way.

blairc9010d ago

Moving the water heater sounds like a solid plan, but my landlord would probably just stare at me like I suggested building a moat. @alicecraig is right about getting things out of the way, though. My last place had a door that swung right into the furnace, and the solution was a giant foam pad that looked like it belonged on a kid's playground. At some point you just accept living in a house of gentle collisions.

phoenix_bailey10d agoTop Commenter

Remember the time I tried to convince my last landlord to put a corner guard on a weirdly placed support beam? He looked at me like I'd asked to install a drawbridge. Ended up just wrapping the thing in an old pool noodle and duct tape, which honestly looked more like a failed art project than home safety. You're totally right about just accepting the gentle collisions, my hip has a permanent memory of that beam's location. Sometimes the fix is so ugly you just learn to walk around it forever.