Who hasn't stripped out a screw hole in wood and thought "now what am I going to do?" Don't fret because it is easier and cheaper to fix than you think.
I purchased two different size dowels that are 36 inches long at my local hardware store for $1.69 each. The largest hole that was stripped out was bigger than 3/8" but smaller than 7/16th. This meant that we needed to make the stripped out hole 7/16th in diameter and to do that we used a spade bit or should I say a rusty 7/16th spade bit.
Once the hole was enlarged we squirted a couple of drops of exterior grade wood glue into the hole. Then we put a little bit of glue on the dowel. Too much glue makes a mess so just put enough glue so that the wood dowel will end up covered in glue and none squirts out.
Make sure your wood glue is for exterior use if the wood is to be outside. Actually just buy exterior glue all the time because it also works for interior use. We use TitebondII Wood glue and I now buy it in the 16oz size because I did a little figuring and found that I can get 16 ozs for 1 1/2 times the cost of the 8 oz size.
Use a rubber mallet or a hammer to tap the dowel all the way into the hole. We cut off the dowel and left about 1/2 inch sticking out. Once everything is dry we will cut the dowel flush with the end of the oak slat using the chop saw. You could also use a hand saw.
The oak slat is now like a new board because we used a dowel to completely fill the hole. When we reassemble the bench we will need to drill a pilot hole before screwing in the fastener.
The bench ends are already painted and ready for the oak slats to be reinstalled. These bench ends are different than most other bench ends. These require the screws to be screwed into the ends which means that the screws are going into the end grain which isn't the strongest method.
I bought a quart of exterior stain with a sealant yesterday. The stain is a dark grey semi transparent stain. I chose this color because it is a compromise between both of our choices. He wanted a dark stain and I wanted satin black or dark grey paint. He got his stain and I got my grey...win win.
This process will also work on hinge holes that get stripped out on your door jamb. I know some people use wood matches and glue but on a heavy door you want the hinge to stay put and not get loose in a month.
A loose hinge makes your door drag on the floor when it is open or fall away from the jamb at the top. This will require you to pull up on the door handle when you are trying to close the door. Pull upward on that door knob for too long and now your droopy door also has a broken door knob.
It is so easy and cheap inexpensive to do it the right way once than to keep redoing it the wrong way.
Total Cost to Fix 10 Slats
2 dowels at $1.69 each
Total Cost $3.38
Reuse Repurpose Recycle
Another option for stripped screws problems is to grab a reamer and use it to pry out the stuck screw.
ReplyDelete