How to Repair a Stripped Screw Hole in Wood
by
Debbie
3 Materials
$5
1 Day
Easy
This tutorial is for anyone that has a stripped screw hole in wood. Be it a door, a table leg, or anything else that will no longer hold a screw.
This is an amazingly simple way to repair a hole and make the wood strong enough to hold a screw again!!
Recently while working on an up-cycled coffee table, I purchased 4 unfinished table legs. In order to mount these legs to the tabletop I was using, the legs needed to have hanger bolts in their top end, but the legs I purchased did not. Figures.
This post is in reference to where I "messed up" while installing the bolts in my leg... drilling a hole to large for my bolt.
The technique I used to repair the stripped hole was super easy and it provided a strong enough fill that my bolt fit as tight and as it had been drilled into the original wood!
This is how I did it.
Gather your supplies: item you need to repair, wood glue, toothpicks, saw or razor. I used the first saw I found in our shed...and it was seriously overkill!
Pour glue into hole filling about halfway.
Push toothpicks into the hole, one at a time, filling until about 70% full..so it is tight but now overly filled. Push toothpicks to bottom and wipe away any excess glue.
Let dry overnight and the next day, saw off exposed toothpicks.
Here is the repair. A solid patch to now drill into again.
I re-drilled my hole and then screwed the bolt in. It fit as tight as if it had been screwed into the original wood.
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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2 comments
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Super tip. I have used toothpicks to fill screw holes where weight or stress was not a factor. Otherwise i use a golf tee, wood dowel, or round off a piece of wood with a razor knife.
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