Best Spackling Pastes for Easy Renovation

Somewhere in the world, there’s a room that needs painting, which is so perfect, so well cared for, that there’s nothing to fix, nothing to caulk, not one single hole to spackle. I don’t know where that room is, but there must be at least one. For me, every room I've ever painted has needed cleaning, caulking, spackling, and many times it even needed the trim to be repaired.

So, if all these rooms are so imperfect, I guess it’s a good thing we have spackling paste to fill in those holes, dings, and gouges in our walls. I firmly believe that proper surface preparation is the most important part of any paint project.

Spackling pastes basically come in two varieties, standard and the newer lightweight spackling. Standard spackling can be made with acrylic, vinyl, or epoxy fillers, all of which are designed to add strength to the spackling. These spackling products will work with other materials than just drywall, such as wood trim, brick and even concrete.

The weight of standard spackling causes some serious problems though. You can only put a limited amount of it in a hole, or it will begin to sag, even to the point of running out of the hole. Additionally, standard spackling shrinks as it dries; heavy coats will crack from this. So, if you have any large imperfections in the wall, you can pretty much count on having to apply several coats, delaying the completion of your project.

For interior walls, lightweight spacklings are a real advantage. Since they are lightweight, they can be applied in one heavy coat, as opposed to layering multiple coats. They don’t shrink as they’re drying, so they won’t crack. They are also quick drying, and sand quickly and easily. These lightweight spacklings can also be textured by touching the still moist spackling with a finger.

Overall, lightweight spackling, by whatever brand, is far superior to standard spackling for interior drywall. However, it does have one drawback. If it is applied in a case where furniture, carts, or furniture will bump into it, the spackling can crush faster and easier than standard spackling. It really isn't as strong as standard spackling is. Of course, in those applications, one should have something stronger than just drywall, such as a rub rail to protect the wall.

Remember, we’re talking about spackling paste here, not drywall finishing compound. You can fill holes up to about one inch in diameter with spackling. If you've got larger holes, such as from removing an electrical box, you need to fill it in with a small piece of drywall, tape it, finish it (with drywall finishing compound) and texture it. Check out our list of the best spackling pastes in 2022.