Appreciation post: My old man's trick for a stripped screw in a 1970s door hinge

I was trying to fix a squeaky door in my first house (a real fixer-upper in Springfield) and the hinge screw just spun in place, making the whole thing worse. I remembered my dad telling me to pack the hole with a bit of wooden toothpick and a drop of glue, let it dry, and then drive the screw back in, which worked perfectly after a tense half-hour. Anyone have a different go-to fix for a stripped wood screw when you can't just move it over a bit?

3 comments

3 Comments

juliashah26d agoMost Upvoted

Wait, you can fix it without switching to a bigger screw? I always thought you had to drill it out and use a fatter screw or one of those plastic plug things. That toothpick trick sounds way easier for old wood that's just gotten chewed up. I'm gonna try that next time instead of making a bigger mess.

hayes.joel26d ago

Yeah @juliashah, that toothpick and glue fix is a total game changer for stripped screw holes.

skylerrobinson22d ago

Wait, does the glue really help that much? I've always just jammed a couple toothpicks in dry and broken them off, then the screw bites into the wood. Adding glue means you have to wait for it to dry, and if you ever need to take that hinge off again, it's going to be a real pain. The dry pack holds just fine for something like a door hinge that doesn't get moved much.