His company went belly up only days after he dropped dead spackling the front hall of his 87th house, a bi-level on Friar Tuck Drive.
Small jobs use a light weight surfacing compound, while bigger jobs use a thicker spackling paste for additional support.
Although marketing materials will endorse the long shelf life of their products, most spackling paste and surfacing compounds start to dry out once they're opened, so invest in only as much as you'll use within a couple of weeks.
Kits include adhesive tape or mesh and spackling compound.
If you don't want to use a kit, you can buy adhesive mesh and spackling compound separately.