How to Fix Nail Holes Before You Move Out

A Chicago landlord who wants to keep part of your security deposit for wall damage has 30 days after your move-out date to show you a paid receipt for the repair, and reasonable wear and tear can’t be billed at all. That’s the best argument for learning how to fix nail holes in wall plaster and drywall before you go. A tub of spackle and two weeks of lead time cover most rentals.

Will You Lose Your Deposit Over Nail Holes in Chicago?

Not over holes that are filled and painted before the walkthrough. The Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance gives a landlord two things to bill for, unpaid rent and the fix for damage beyond reasonable wear and tear. A lease clause that contradicts the ordinance is void, however small the print.

Picture the keys going back on May 1. If the landlord plans a deduction for a wall, an itemized statement with the repair cost and a copy of the paid receipt has to reach you by May 31. The rest of the deposit, with interest, is due by June 15. A landlord who blows those dates can be ordered to pay you two times the deposit plus interest under the Chicago security deposit law.

Tenants of small buildings get a different deal. When the owner lives in a building of six units or fewer, say the landlord upstairs in a two-flat, the Chicago RLTO doesn’t cover you, and owner-occupied condos and co-ops sit outside it too. The Department of Housing set the Chicago security deposit interest rate for 2026 at 0.01%, which comes to 15 cents a year on a $1,500 deposit.

We’re handymen, so read all of this as general information, not legal advice.

Moving May 1 or October 1? Start Patching Two Weeks Out

Blame the calendar on the 1840s. That’s when May 1 became Chicago’s moving day, according to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, and in the late 1800s up to a third of households packed up every year. A 1911 change let leases start on any date, and May 1 and October 1 kept their grip anyway.

With an October 1 move, you spackle nail holes around September 17, early enough that a patch which sinks gets a second coat. Paint goes on around the 24th, and the 30th is for photos, after the couch has left. A May 1 move shifts it all to April 17 and April 24, with the photos on April 30.

What You Need to Fill Nail Holes

The shopping list for how to fill nail holes in wall board fits in a jacket pocket.

• DAP DryDex or any other lightweight spackle, the same tub a hole repair kit sells you with a tiny knife.
• A putty knife you can bend a little with your thumb.
• Sandpaper in 120 and 220 grit, with the 220 doing most of the work, plus a kitchen sponge you won’t want back.
• Primer in a small can, worth it when your walls have any shine to them.
• Your landlord’s paint, or at least its name, which is worth a text this week.

How to Fix Nail Holes in Drywall, Step by Step

Knock first. A hollow sound means drywall, and the weekend plan for how to fix nail holes in wall board starts two Saturdays before the keys go back.

1. Around 9am on that Saturday, the nails come out with pliers, pulled straight back so the hole stays round.
2. A ring of paper that’s puffed up around a hole gets sliced flush with a utility knife, since spackle over a bump only gives you a bigger bump.
3. A pea-sized dab goes on the knife and gets pressed in hard, a touch proud of the wall.
4. One pass with the blade nearly flat takes the extra off.
5. Lunch break comes next, since a nail hole dries in about the time a sandwich takes, while deeper patches wait for Sunday.
6. Sunday after coffee, a folded sheet of 220 goes over each patch until your fingertip can’t find the edge, and the sponge picks up the dust.
7. Anywhere the wall’s glossy or joint compound went in, a thin coat of primer goes on before lunch, or the paint over it dries dull.
8. A week out, the touch-up paint goes on with a small foam roller and gets feathered past the patch so there’s no hard edge.

Rather hand this one off? Get a written quote

Plaster Walls in Older Chicago Apartments

A wall in a 1920s greystone gives back a dull thud when you knock on it. CMAP’s June 2026 data snapshot puts 38.8% of Chicago housing before 1940, with a median build year of 1953. Rentals make up 54.0% of it, so a lot of tenants are patching lath and plaster.

Plaster is harder than drywall and more brittle, so a nail yanked sideways takes a dime-sized chunk with it. Go slow with the pliers and wiggle each nail out, since that’s half of how to fix nail holes in plaster walls. The rest is two thin coats of lightweight spackle in a clean hole. A hairline crack running from the hole is best left alone, because digging at it makes it longer. If the plaster gives under your thumb, it’s come loose from the lath, and that’s a handyman’s afternoon.

Screw and Anchor Holes Need More Than Spackle

Curtain rods and TV mounts leave wider holes, and most still have a plastic drywall anchor in them. Run the old screw back in three turns and pull with pliers, and the anchor comes out riding the threads. Push one into the wall and you’ll hear it rattle in there for years, with the spackle above it sinking a little more every month.

A hole bigger than a quarter gets a self-adhesive mesh patch under two thin coats. That’s how to fix screw holes in wall sections behind a TV mount without a crack showing up in June. Anything bigger than your palm goes to our drywall and plaster repair in Chicago crew. We also do shelf and picture hanging at the new place, TV included.

Touch-Up Paint Without Repainting the Room

Text the landlord for the paint brand and the color code first.

Sheen gives a patch away faster than shade. A flat patch on an eggshell wall turns into a dull square once afternoon light comes in sideways, even with a perfect color, so the paint sheen gets matched first. Every guide on how to fix nail holes in wall surfaces ends at this can.

When the tone’s still off, paint the patch out to the nearest corner, where a small color change passes for a shadow. A whole room that looks tired is an interior painting job for the landlord.

Photos and Receipts for the Move-Out Walkthrough

On the last day before the move-out inspection, once the couch is gone, take every wall straight on and then a close-up of each patch.

Any itemized statement that shows up within those 30 days gets read next to your photos. A wall damage line with no paid receipt attached is the landlord’s to explain. Landlords get the other side in our notes on getting a Chicago rental ready between tenants.

When to Call a Handyman Instead

Forty holes from a gallery wall eat a whole weekend. If you’d have to patch holes in wall after wall, or a TV and two shelves came down with their anchors, a crew is faster. You can book a wall repair before your move, and the work carries our 30-day workmanship warranty.