The holding power of an ordinary wood screw is a significant improvement over a nail because of the additional surface area created by the threads wrapped around the shank. The right kind of screw in the right size hole will hold for many a year, perhaps indefinitely if the fastener isn’t subjected to much stress. If there is stress on the joint, however, the hard metal screw can – and usually will – wear away at the softer wood, eventually enlarging the hole and loosening the screw. The wearing action only gets worse as the hole enlarges, often to the point that the screw ultimately just falls out. The good news is that a loose screw isn’t hard to fix. In fact, there are several fixes, though some are better than others. Just Use a Bigger Screw
This fix takes the least work, and – as you might expect – gives the poorest results. In many situations you can’t use a thicker screw (a #10 instead of a #8, for instance); in others you can’t fit in a longer screw. In either case, the holding power of the new screw is compromised by the existing damage, so this solution is only recommended for temporary fixes.
Wrap Something Around the Threads
Some DIYers like to use rope (jute or hemp, not nylon) or even a scrap of steel wool. Just wrap the material around the old screw and drive it back into the hole. The foreign material fills in around the shank and threads to tighten the hole. I like the rope idea a lot more than the steel wool idea, especially where the steel wool might rust. I wouldn’t expect this to be a long-term solution, though, because the “filler” remains loose.
Stuff Wood Filler in the Screw HoleMost wood filler (wood putty, etc.) claims that once it’s dry, you can drill and shape it. If you can find a way to squeeze a dab of wood filler into the hole, you can then replace the screw while the filler is soft. Once it’s dry, it fills the old space and wraps tightly around the screw's threads. I see a couple of problems with this solution: 1) getting the wood filler into the little screw hole in the first place is tricky, and 2) you may not get the screw in the right position and orientation in this soft stuff, especially if there’s stress on the joint. Still, a fairly good idea. |
Fill the Hole with Wood Scraps
This is the one I use most often: coat a toothpick with carpenter’s glue, poke it in the hole and break it off even with the surface. Then just drive the screw back into the hole – you can even tighten it down while the glue is still wet. Some people say to use a wooden match, but they’re softer wood than toothpicks (and lots harder to find these days). If the hole’s large, you can use two toothpicks, and they’re easy to push in because of the sharp ends.
Drill Out the HolePerhaps the ultimate solution to a loos screw is to drill out the old hole and glue a section of dowel in the hole. Once the glue is dry, you drill a new pilot hole in the dowel and replace the screw. If you happen to own a plug-cutter, it might be slightly better to cut a “homemade dowel” from wood that’s been cut across the grain instead of presenting an end grain. This takes a lot more time, skill and effort than those other fixes, but if you use quality glue you end up with a joint whose holding power is indistinguishable from that of the original wood. |
Weird Solutions that Might Just Work
I ran across these do-it-yourself ideas while doing some other research. I haven't tried either one, but both of them look like possible solutions. To give credit where credit is due, they came from a '70s-era Popular Mechanics article about tightening up loose hinges.
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Like I said, I haven't tried either of those suggestions...
Hope this helps… Now, go fix that loose screw!
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