Re-drilling screws into wood

VonLuck

I've a problem with one of my timber doors where the handle has come loose. Looks like a previous owner or builder did a botch job of screwing in the handle. The holes are too large (or else it has enlarged due to regular pulling of the handle) and now the handle is permanently loose.

I've tried putting in new slightly larger screws but there's nothing for it to grab onto because of the hole size so you can tighten to your hearts content but the screw just keeps turning in place.

What's the best solution? Is there some kind of resin available that I can inject into the holes and redrill for the screws?

Charlie19

Yes you could buy a good filler then just screw the handle back on.

I used polycell polyfilla on concrete and I remember reading that when hardend it could be drilled.so maybe there is an equivalent for wood.

looksee

Dip a matchstick in a bit of woodglue and push it into the hole. Then screw the handle back. It would work without the woodglue but it helps a bit.

onform

VonLuck wrote: »

I've a problem with one of my timber doors where the handle has come loose. Looks like a previous owner or builder did a botch job of screwing in the handle. The holes are too large (or else it has enlarged due to regular pulling of the handle) and now the handle is permanently loose.

I've tried putting in new slightly larger screws but there's nothing for it to grab onto because of the hole size so you can tighten to your hearts content but the screw just keeps turning in place.

What's the best solution? Is there some kind of resin available that I can inject into the holes and redrill for the screws?

Could you use plastic wall plugs in the hole, and screw into those? I've found that has worked for me for kitchen cabinet hinges that worked loose.

VonLuck

looksee wrote: »

Dip a matchstick in a bit of woodglue and push it into the hole. Then screw the handle back. It would work without the woodglue but it helps a bit.

Sounds like that could be a simple fix. Would that give a strong bond when new screws are drilled into them? It's a heavy door so the handle gets a bit of force.

Stanford

Buy a few wooden dowels in your local hardware shop, coat them with wood glue and hammer into the screw holes, that will sort your problem

gutteruu

I used wooden golf tee's cut flush. Worked great.

listermint

Stanford wrote: »

Buy a few wooden dowels in your local hardware shop, coat them with wood glue and hammer into the screw holes, that will sort your problem

Want to be some borrower sized small dowels for screw holes 😉

The Continental Op

listermint wrote: »

Want to be some borrower sized small dowels for screw holes ��

I thought the poster was going to suggest what I've done when I've needed something bigger than a match (OK whats bigger than one match - 2 matches :pac:) which is take a dowel and split it down into smaller pieces.

tabby aspreme

If it's a hollow door it can be difficult to plug the holes, take a look at, bolt through door handles, on the web, you can get the bolts online without having to buy new handles

The Continental Op

tabby aspreme wrote: »

If it's a hollow door it can be difficult to plug the holes, take a look at, bolt through door handles, on the web, you can get the bolts online without having to buy new handles

I also thought of that when the wooden dowels were mentioned. I could just imagine an over sized hole in a panel door and someone hammering a full sized dowel into the hole and the dowel disappearing down inside the door

Cerco

Doubt it is a hollow door from the Op’s description in his 2nd post.
I would suggest putting a small sliver of timber glued in to the hole and when tacky gently screw in the screws with a screw driver (not a drill driver) until tight. The glue will harden around the timber and the screw threads.

looksee

Yes, the 'match' depends on the size of the hole. Push in match, break off at surface, if space push in again, or split match and push in sliver. If you choose the right match with a long grain it will split with a long pointy sliver when you break it and give you a nicely pointed bit to push in. I was assuming that once the operation was started the OP would see the obvious solutions.

VonLuck

That's great everyone, thanks. I think I have enough sense to know if a dowel is too large and won't fit! Will give it a go once I get myself some wood glue.