How To Fix A Stripped Door Hinge Hole

Due to the design of the doors a prefab door would stick out like a sore thumb.

How to fix a stripped door hinge hole.

After time the weight of the door will pull on the hinge and cause the door not to hang straight. Another hint is to use a long screw in one of the holes in the top most hinge long enough to penetrate the stud. Open the door wide and insert a wedge under the bottom outside corner to level it. Sometimes retightening the hinge screws is all it takes to fix the problem.

In these situations the best repair method is to drill out the screw hole with a 1 2 inch bit then fill the enlarged hole with a glued 1 2 inch hardwood plug or solid hardwood dowel. But if the screws can t be tightened because the holes are stripped try this. If you have a heavy door that seems to have a loose hinge it could be that either the door hinge screws are stripped or the screw hole is stripped. If all the hinges have loose screws it will be easier to just completely remove the door.

I will repair that in a separate instructable once the door hinge is out of the way carefully drill out the hole where the screw used to be. A loose butt hinge will cause a door to hang crooked and stick. Easy fixes may also be ineffective in situations where a heavy door has caused hinge screws to strip out the wood on the edge of the door or the door frame. We ve all had the problem of a screw getting pulled right out of a hole and stripping out the wood that should be holding it.

How to fix a stripped screw hole. On my cabinets the door actually fell off because a chunk of particle board fell off. When you first notice this it is important that you fix the problem as soon as you can. If you are fixing just a few loose screw holes for something that has multiple hinges like a door you can put a wedge underneath it to support it while you unscrew the loose hinge and fix the stripped holes.

Fix it the right way not the wrong way. If you have a centering hinge drill use the hinge as a template and the finish repair will be better than new and last for years. The wrong way is a temporary fix not cool.