Can I do this repair

[humblesims]

I have no DIY skills but needs must and there are lots of jobs need doing in this house and I am going to have to learn to do some of them and this seems like a place to start. This hole from previous leak (now fixed) has been on the list for ages. Can I repair this myself? What do I do? I suppose I need to pull away all the loose stuff and then...ha ha what? I dunno. I'm game but not a clue really. Am I kidding myself that I can tackle this as a total DIY newbie? 😳

Should have mentioned its the top of the wall where it meets the ceiling and is about a foot across. 😐

What are the wall and ceiling made of? Lathe and plaster/plasterboard/something else? That's going to make a huge difference to how easy (or not) it is to fix. Although working at that height would make it a no from me anyway!
I can tackle some DIY, but for this I would use my multipurpose tool. Although he did ask me to stop calling him a tool...

Yea it’s easy enough to repair - just need to sand it all properly and fill cracks and repaint. You can treat walls with bleach to get rid of any surface mould. Has the water/damp problem been addressed though? No point doing the cosmetic work beforehand.

Sand off all the loose material, fill it with poly filler, use a scraper to keep it as flat as possible. You can always do a couple of thinner costs of poly filler, sanding in between. Let it dry. Sand it again till nice and smooth then paint.

You tube is your friend. Honestly you can find the answer to everything online these days!

If I had to do it though I would remove all the loose stuff, then pack the hole out with expanding foam (as long as it's not a huge void e.g. your loft/attic), then top fill with filler, or buy a small bag/tub of plaster bonding, then filler, rub down with sandpaper and repaint.

As you say scrape off all the loose stuff and buy a jointing knife ( like a thin ,wide scraper). And some of this ……. It’s easy to work with,ready mixed and sands easily to a smooth finish . Imo it’s better than and filler I’ve ever used.

and if you keep the lid on it lasts ages too ( years ).

Ah didn’t see there was a hole , get a piece of plasterboard and put it inside the hole but make it bigger so it sits on top of the ceiling ( inside ) and stick it down. There are plenty of tube adhesives for this nowdays , then build up the joint cement in layers ( letting it dry in between). Until it’s flush.👍

Gosh thanks for all the very helpful advice guys, i realllly appreciate it. I will definitely have a go (what could possibly go wrong!😃).
I'll report back when I've done it.
I would use my multipurpose tool

😂
I do have one of these but it's hurt it's arm and when he's mended I want him to do some of the jobs I deffo cant do.

If it looks crap you can always rake it out, but looks like it should be a fairly easy fix is the leak is definitely sorted? My favourite thing for little holes is the lightweight filler, very easy to pack in then get smooth and sand afterwards. The staining will probably need an undercoat or damp blocker on it before you paint over it or it will show through.

Yes you can probably do the repair if you are competent at DIY. However I strongly disagree that it is simply a case of bunging some filler up there, sanding it off and painting.

It looks to me like some of the boarding has come away. What are the above posters expecting the filler to stick to? If you put a load of filler up there my bet is that it will be on the floor below within a week.

My suggestion is check for pipes and cables then cut away the damaged board so you end up with a nice rectangular hole. Then cut a new sheet of board to match the gap and affix with a couple of screws. Then you can lightly fill the gaps between the new and old boards and finally sand down and paint over.