Makely

Let's Make Life Awesome

  • Home
  • Decorating/DIY
    • Create Your Decor
    • Decorate Your Home
    • Paint Your Walls
    • Transform Your Furniture
  • Healthy Living
    • Essential Oils
    • Family Wellness
    • Household Care
  • Project Gallery
  • Contact
You are visiting: Home » Decorating/DIY » Transform Your Furniture » How to Repair a Stripped Screw Hole with a Toothpick

How to Repair a Stripped Screw Hole with a Toothpick

by Lindsay Ballard on May 31, 2012 13 Comments

Smart DIYers the label doors and hardware they remove from a project.  The labels make it much easier when everything needs to be reassembled.  Particularly with vintage furniture, the doors and hardware often fit best in their original positions since the piece has likely settled (or warped) a bit over time.

But, how do you label the doors when you need to paint the front and back of them?  Well, if you are like me, you think you are really smart and can just keep them in order.  Much like the shell game, though, they somehow seem to get out of order and then you (or maybe just me) are left with a big mess on your hands.

This is exactly what happened when I went to put the doors back on my now bright blue stereo cabinet.  I thought I had them  in the correct positions, but I didn’t.  I moved them around about five times, screwing and unscrewing the hinges (because those had to be just right, too!).  By the time I had it all figured out, the screw holes for the hinges were stripped.

I called Tom at work and asked him if we had any super glue.  He’s answer (and rightfully so) was, “Um, why?”  I told him I needed to just glue the screws into the too big holes.  Instead, he suggested that I use toothpicks.  Apparently, I could cut a toothpick down and use it to tighten the stripped hole a bit.

Y’all, it worked!

Tom said this was a “well known” fix, but I had never heard of it before.  Here’s what to do, in case you run across the stripped screw hole problem, too.

How to Repair a Stripped Screw Hole with a Toothpick

1.  Stick and ordinary wooden toothpick into the stripped screw hole.  Make a mark on the toothpick with a pen or marker so that you know about where it comes out of the hole.  Don’t look at the scraped up paint on the bottom of my door.  That’s what happened when I was trying to jam the wrong doors into the wrong places.  And the poly drip.  Seriously, why are you still looking?  I said “don’t look”!!

2.  Cut the toothpick (I just used scissors) slightly shorter than the mark.  You want the toothpick to be down in the hole enough so that the tip of the screw can push down on it.

3.  Now, you can just screw in your hardware as normal.  The screw will push the toothpick down and to the side so that it has something to bite into.

Genius!  I couldn’t believe that it was such a quick and easy fix.  Much better than super glue.  🙂

Have you ever tried this toothpick fix?  If not, file it away in your mental filing cabinet (or on Pinterest) so that you can remember it when the need arises.

 

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.

« Revamping a 1960s Beauty Without Sanding or Priming
Elvis has Entered the Building »

Comments

  1. Felicia Kramer says

    May 31, 2012 at 7:16 am

    This is one tip I have known about for years – I think I learned it from my Dad. It definitely works. You can also use matchsticks (without the part that burns, of course!)

    Reply
  2. Jenni Gomila says

    May 31, 2012 at 9:44 am

    I can’t wait to use this trick the next time i have to disassemble my bed…genius…and I’m the more handy one in my family so my husband would have never known. You are amazing and you’ve posted 2 things this week that i was in need of…so thanks!!!!

    Reply
  3. Kathy says

    May 31, 2012 at 10:02 am

    What a great tip!! I’m mentally filing this away for later…..Thanks so much!!! Blessings!

    Reply
  4. Jenny says

    May 31, 2012 at 11:10 am

    Poly drips? Scraped paint? Are you kidding? All I could see was the gold glitter nail polish, which looks perfect. And this is a GREAT tip, one which I had never heard despite my surely-he-knew-that-father-in-law, who knew all manner of things like that! Thanks, and it’s a beautiful cabinet —

    Reply
  5. Krys says

    May 31, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    We tried this on the bathroom door a few months ago and it didn’t really work. 🙁 We had screwed a towel bar into the back of the door since the bathroom was so tiny and there was only one other place to put it…which visually would have made the room claustrophobic. Somehow in the process, the door must have been tugged on too much as it now sags and you have to lift up on the door to actually close it. We tried this on the top screw holes for the door hinge and it seemed to work…for less than a month and it went back to sagging again.

    Reply
  6. Shannon Fox says

    May 31, 2012 at 8:05 pm

    My dad taught me this trick and it totally works. I have used it a few times now. Great tip!!

    Reply
  7. Shirlee Cable says

    February 14, 2019 at 11:54 pm

    Sounds good to me I will be trying it on my railing top screw is strips

    Reply
  8. Shirlee Cable says

    February 14, 2019 at 11:56 pm

    Thanks

    Reply
  9. DJ says

    April 27, 2020 at 1:51 am

    Try stuffing more wood in your hole. Or maybe the walls of your holes are rotten and the wood needs replacing.

    Reply
    • DJ says

      April 27, 2020 at 1:58 am

      Sorry, I thought I was replying to the person that said that your tip didn’t work.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. A Quick Toothpick Fix! | All Things Home says:
    June 19, 2012 at 6:32 am

    […] Lindsay’s article with pic tutorials here: http://livingwithlindsay.com/2012/05/how-to-repair-a-stripped-screw-hole-with-a-toothpick.html […]

    Reply
  2. Most people don't know how useful toothpicks can be. Check out these 10 tips - DIY says:
    August 31, 2017 at 7:07 pm

    […] Inserting it into the hole gives the screw new wood to attach to. Physics makes it work, and Living with Lindsay shows you […]

    Reply
  3. 10 Home Repair Tips and Tricks | Handyman Home Service says:
    January 22, 2020 at 7:00 pm

    […] to find stripped screw holes in a part of the house one afternoon, so I decided to fix the problem with a toothpick. Yes, just insert a toothpick to fill the hole and screw whatever it is you need to screw onto it. […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

About Makely

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Lindsay lives outside of Austin, Texas with her husband (Tom), children (Zack and Emma), and dogs (Duke and Jill). She plays roller derby for the Rockin' City Rollergirls out of Round Rock, Texas.


Archives

Categories

PRIVACY POLICY
Copyright © 2009-2019 Makely School for Girls | All Rights Reserved | Posts may contain advertising content or affiliate links