diy

Who hasn’t crossed paths with a stripped screw hole? You go to tighten the screw and it just turns in the hole but no righty tighty and maybe too much lefty loosey. A quick trick here is to fill the hole with a sliver or two of wood, plastic, matchsticks (minus the heads, so you don’t start a fire) , toothpicks, or even a rolled up bit of paper. This will give the screw something to bite on and help it to grab into the hole. You can either cut off or roll up appropriately guestimated sizes and amount of wood slivers or use rolled up paper and insert it into the hole then anchor your screw in the modified hole.

Now I wouldn’t recommend this repair for fixing planes, trains, or automobiles, but it works just fine on light duty applications such as cabinet pulls or interior door jambs. It can also work in some instances where the proper screw was lost you can use the wood and a smaller sized screw to anchor into the old hole. You may need to use a washer if your screw head is a different size. If you are concerned about longevity of the repair you might add a bit of wood glue to your inserted tree mixture and let it dry, if need be, and then screw in the screw.

Most screws are all about plane leverage. The screw threads grab into the material anchoring into the weaker spaces between material particles forcing the remaining weaker particles closer together thereby making them denser, more concentrated, and better to anchor to. The correct screw is particularly engineered at the proper angles and thread size for the material it is designed to anchor to for optimum holding power. Some materials including some types of wood need to be pre drilled to avoid splitting of the material.Each material is different in it’s density and tensile strength. Wooden matchsticks, toothpicks, and rolled up bits of strong paper are very flexible and still strong enough to fill voids, this is why they work well for this application, making them anchor into the existing subtances and create holding power.

This same effect works well in reverse the same plane leverage helps the screw to be easily turned out and removed for repairs or modifications. If you had to take apart something where this repair was done you may need to repeat the insert of some material if it had not been glued in.

~~~ Stay Strong ~~~
~~~ Kung Fu Maintenance ~~~~~~~

Making Your Job Much Easier

1) Line up Quality Vendors. Talk is cheap but quality is priceless. Watch for vendors that care and are into what they do. Craftsmanship may seem a lost art but it does still exist.

2) Keep prices competitive. Paying more doesn’t mean you will get a better job anymore. Once upon a time it did. It still can but it is rare.

3) Encourage their performance. When you do find quality, value their work with more work and appropriate pay. Recognize extra efforts. Give them opportunities to bid for other jobs.

4) They must understand that results are not an option. We must understand that results are not an option. Our employers certainly understand that results are not an option. Our customers hope that results are not an option.

5) Line up jobs and line up bids. List all the most common repairs needed at your property and develop plans of action. Recognize the jobs that will cost you much less time, effort and money, to do in house. Determine which jobs will save you the most time, energy, and money to vend out. Make sure you are getting apples to apples bids. The more you understand about needed repairs, the easier time you will have developing a plan. The better plans you develop the easier you can communicate it to your vendors. The better you communicate the better chance your vendors will have of meeting your expectations.

6) Keep a running wish list for capital improvements.

7) Research better solutions for the problems that plague you. Develop a jig if possible or a template to make jobs that must be repeated much easier.

8) Keep a running list of supplies and parts needed. This way when you do order parts and supplies, you don’t forget anything.

9) Develop and Implement the best preventative maintenance program you can. When you prevent things from going wrong in bulk, life becomes so much easier. Developing an understanding of the challenges at your property and building up solutions will save you countless headaches.

Experience can be tough but when you learn from it difficulty will be less on in. Think strategically. Recycle your tough experiences into hitting first where it counts.

~~~ Gain Some Nice Ground ~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~ Kung Fu Maintenance ~~~~~~~~~~~

How to Repair Just About Any Stripped Screw Holes

Making Your Maintenance or Maintenance Supervisor Job Much Easier