Short answer
A plasterer, or a painter who does patching. The repair itself is quick; matching the surrounding finish is the skill, and on a textured or aged wall the patch often means repainting the whole wall to a corner.
What to do before anyone arrives
- Check what is behind the hole before anyone cuts it bigger — cables and pipes run in walls, and a doorknob hole is usually shallow but a foot-through-the-wall is not.
- Photograph it with something for scale.
- Find out whether you have any leftover paint, and what the sheen level is. Matching sheen is harder than matching colour.
What to ask when you book
- Is this a patch or a cut-in sheet?
- Does the price include painting, and to what extent — the patch, the wall, or the room?
- How long between coats, and how many visits is that?
What changes the price
No dollar figures here: this directory holds no price data and an invented range is worse than none. What follows is what makes one of these jobs cost more than the same job next door, which is the part you can actually use when comparing quotes.
- Size of the hole and whether a new section of sheet is needed.
- Whether the wall surface is flat, textured or has a decorative finish.
- How far the painting has to extend to make it invisible.
- Multiple visits, because setting compound has to dry between coats.
What you can do yourself
Is this licensed work?
Not licensed work at this scale.
There is no national register. Search the licence number with the regulator for the state the work is happening in.
- NSWNSW Fair Tradingbuilders, electricians, plumbers and specialist trades
- VICBuilding and Plumbing Commission, and Energy Safe Victoria for electricalbuilding practitioners and plumbers; electricians are Energy Safe Victoria
- QLDQueensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC)building and most trade contractor licences
- WABuilding and Energybuilders, electricians, plumbers and gas fitters
- SAConsumer and Business Servicesbuilding work contractors and supervisors
- TASConsumer, Building and Occupational Services (CBOS)building and occupational licences
- ACTAccess Canberraconstruction occupations licensing
- NTNT Government building practitioner registrationbuilding practitioners and electrical workers
Licensing thresholds and certificate requirements differ by state and change with amending regulation, so this page describes the mechanism rather than quoting a figure. The regulator’s own page is the current answer.
Common questions
- Who should I hire for a hole in the plasterboard
- A plasterer, or a painter who does patching. The repair itself is quick; matching the surrounding finish is the skill, and on a textured or aged wall the patch often means repainting the whole wall to a corner.
- Why does a patch still show after painting?
- Two reasons: the repair is not perfectly flat and raking light shows the edges, and new compound absorbs paint differently from the surrounding surface, so it flashes at a different sheen. Sealing the patch before painting and carrying the paint to a natural break in the wall are what fix it.
Find a Painter near you
1,277 painters in this directory, ranked on published evidence rather than on advertising.
Who to hire for
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- Who to hire for a leaking roofA roofer — but confirm it is the roof first. A ceiling stain that only appears in rain is a roof leak; one tha…
General information about who does what, not advice about your specific job. Licensing, consumer law and council rules differ by state and change; the regulator for your state is the current source. More guides to hiring a tradesperson.