Ask This Old House general contractor Tom Silva shares some tricks of the trade for backing out stripped screws. (See below for a shopping list, tools, and steps.)
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Shopping List for How to Remove Stripped Screws:
- Tapered wood plug [], to conceal screw hole
Tools List for How to Remove Stripped Screws:
- Screwdriver []
- Self-locking pliers []
- Cordless drill []
- Screw extractor []
Steps for How to Remove Stripped Screws:
1. Try removing the stripped screw with the proper size manual screwdriver.
2. If the screw head is protruding from the surface, grip it with self-locking pliers and twist out the screw.
3. Use a cordless drill, set in reverse, and left-handed bit to drill a small hole into the head of the stripped screw.
4. With the drill still set in reverse, use a screw extractor to back out the screw.
5. If the screw head has snapped off, use a hollow-boring screw extractor to drill out the entire screw. Fill the resulting hole with a tapered wood plug.
About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we're ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers—and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O'Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.
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How to Remove Stripped Screws | Ask This Old House
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