I had my storm door propped open when a gust of wind caught it and pulled the screws out of some mounting brackets.

What can I do to repair the holes and get the screws to stay in?

 

Welcome to the forums.

What are the screws into...... wood ?
Sometimes a longer screw will work to catch the framing.
Other times you can tap in a wooden matchstick and then reinsert the screw.

You could post a picture of what you have there so we can see it.
How-to-insert-pictures

 

Number one, get a safety chain for the top of the door so that it stops the door at 90 degrees and doesn't yank or bend your closer. And any longer screw at the hardware store will work. Most closer brackets should use a #14 x 2 1/2" phillips pan head wood screw, preferably stainless steel. Any hardware store should have them.

If it yanked the screws out of the safety chain bracket on top, your only option is to relocate the bracket, using the same sized screws. You could keep it in the same place and bolt it but most people don't like the looks of that.

 

To add to the safety chain suggestion, I've always liked the type that have a spring captured in the chain. That way the sudden shock of it hitting the end is greatly lessened as are the chances of it just jerking the screws out of the door.

 

Toothpicks or most any slivers of wood will also work.

 

I use wooden dowels to tap in the screw holes. Just put some wood glue on the dowels & tap then in the holes so they fit tight. Then use a knife or wood chisel to cut them off flush with the frame.

Just me though. I am no professional.

 

I only use a dowel if it's really bad, you need to drill the hole to fit the dowel and glue. I've heard of those that use golf tees the same way.

 

I use wooden matches. They are soft and glue in well. Screw goes in easy and matches expand to fill a looseness. Tap matches into hole till tight.

 

If your door is aluminum I usually drill all the way through the hinge and door and install nuts and bolts. In some cases you need to countersink the hinge and use flat head bolts so they sit flush. Another option is to not use the existing hinges and surface mount new hinges to the outside of the door.

 

Think he will come back and tell us what bracket came loose?

 

Just echo Xsleeper and Gunguy. I always recommend a safety chain to my customers when they purchase a door. Larsin will not honor a door that has been sprung by a wind or over opening. And they are experts and being able to tell if that was the case. What bugs me is that they do not recommend or suggest a safety chain and my store does not encourage it as an add-on sale. But I always make the suggestion.

 

That certainly is interesting. Never thought of using them like that.

 

You haven't? I intentionally didn't mention it cuz I didn't want to sound like a broken record!

 

The guy that suggested using dowels the first time I learned of this trick, mentioned using golf tee's. I dont play golf so I didnt have any tee's handy... I did however have a few dowels.

 

I don't golf either so it's not something I'd have laying around.
I do have piles of dowels in my wood bin.

 

My problem is I don't keep my clubs in my work truck. Lol. I usually keep a pack in the truck though!

 

Since we're on golf tees, I don't golf either so I asked my golfing friend for some and now there in my tool box. I also use them to seal started caulking tubes.

 

Not having any access to golf tees, I've never tried that but I have used caps over the tip and they don't work well. IMO the best method is to take a nail longer than the spout and push it in. That prevents an caulk from drying in the tip making it hard to reuse. It's best to use a galvanized nail for latex caulk as a regular nail can rust and discolor the first little bit of caulking that comes out.

 

Its an aluminum door, so the dowel trick wont work.

The hinges got stripped out. I'd post a pic, but I won't be home until next friday. Sorry.

The thin metal hole on the door got stripped out. I'd have to hammer it flat again, but at that point it will be weaker and probably wont hold the weight of the door (even if it were able to catch the screw again).

The bolt idea sounds sturdy, but I dont know how i'd get the nuts inside the door, or hold them in place while mounting the hing plate.

Thoughts?

 

You'd drill thru to the outside of the door - both the head of the bolt and nut would be exposed.

 

Most of the parts that mount to the door can just be shifted over or up to a new hole. Forget the old one.

And I can't picture how the hinges could get stripped out. The hinge screws that go through the narrow (side) edge of the storm door are what pulled out?

And is it a hollow aluminum door? Cuz many have a solid particle board core.

 

Thanks everyone for the input!
I won't be home to look at it till friday. At that point I'll check it out better and maybe post pics if I'm still puzzled. I'll also update on what I decide to do for anyone else who might care.

 

Lookup nutserts. They do use a special tool to set them. They are like Molly anchors for metal.

https://www.google.com/search?q=nuts...hrome&ie=UTF-8

 

I like the suggestions regarding the match sticks and wood glue but remember that you're using softwood to repair a damaged hole. I use liquid nails in a caulk gun application, let it set and then retap the screw hole with a larger wood screw in these cases. Very often holds up. My best suggestion, which is def not something I'd recommend to someone who might have problems re-hanging a door is to remove the entire thing and replace the door frame. And as someone else mentioned, make sure the door chain with spring is there to prevent this from happening again.

 

Ok, I finally got back to this project after shelving it for a while.

Here are some pics. Its a thin sheet of metal that the screws grabbed onto. there is really no way of getting behind the sheet because its a one piece hallow tube. also the hinges are fixed, so I can't really move them up or down and make new holes...

Please see 2 attached files for pics or door side and fixed hinge.

 

Here are my 2 thoughts on fixes at this point. Please let me know if they are foolish or if there is a better approach.

1) Somehow find a way to slide a 1"x1" (or whatever will fit inside the hollow piece) inside the frame, and drill pilot holes to give the screws something to bite into.

2) inject some type of epoxy (what kind?? i dont know) into the existing stripped holes, and drill pilot holes into the cured epoxy and screw the screws into that.

???

 

Drill new holes about 1/4" away from the old holes and reattach. Add a 3rd one in the middle if you want to.

 

Agree...new holes. Clean up the old ones and cap them with a couple off snap in plastic covers. Something like this in the small parts bins....https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...8058/204273777

 

You could also hammer the holes down flat with a punch, then just use the next size bigger screw.