Remember when you had to buy a whole new door for a stripped screw hole?

I had a closet door in my old house, the top hinge screw just spun and wouldn't hold. I was about to go buy a new slab, which felt like a waste. My neighbor, a retired carpenter, saw me struggling and said, 'Just jam a few toothpicks in there with some wood glue.' I let it dry overnight, drove a new screw in, and that door hung solid for the next five years. Anyone have a better fix for this, maybe with a different material?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenny_sullivan9722d ago

Toothpicks and glue is the classic for a reason. My dad taught me that trick when I was a kid. I’ve also used those little plastic wall anchors you get with cheap furniture, snapped off flush. They work in a pinch if you don’t have wood glue handy.

wadebailey22d ago

But what if you need to take that screw back out later? Toothpicks and glue, like @jenny_sullivan97 said, make a permanent mess. I stripped a hinge screw on a cabinet door and used that trick. Next year, the hinge broke and I had to drill out a solid plug of wood and superglue. Total pain. Those plastic anchors might not hold as long, but at least they come out clean.