We had an electrician install a light in our ceiling. In the process he had to move the fitting about 10 centimeters which left a hole roughly three centimeters in diameter.
He tried to pug it using filler which is a disaster.
What's the best way for a hack like myself to plug this hole?
patching a hole in the ceiling is the same as patching one in the wall (only your arms usually get more tired from being above your head), see this question:
What is the best method to patch a large hole (2-3 inches) in drywall?
Excerpt:
Correct way to do it is as instructed on 'Canada's worst Handyman'
Remove the metal brace if necessary and insert a small wood panel such that is overlaps enough on both sides. Then you can nail a small piece of Sheetrock in the size of the whole onto this wood panel that it is flush with the ceiling. Finally you can paint this in the same colour as the rest of the ceiling.
I had a similar issue when the electrician installing my fan had to install the fan box properly on a stud because the previous box was not on a stud. A hole about as large as yours was left. What you can do is take those wall patches that you purchase at Lowes or Home Depot and place it over the hole with some spackle to make it stick at first. After you have spackled and attached the patch, then spackle all over the patch to smooth it out. Let it dry, then sand, primer, and paint.
For a 3cm hole, a lightweight compound should do the job. Patch it and paint it.
