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December 6, 2010

Ha! and you thought...

I would not bring up our kitchen ever again. Had y’all and me fooled didn’t it?


So there I was putting up something under the kitchen sink…I closed the cabinet door and it felt weird, kinda a wobbly waunky kind of thing. I got down on my knees and opened and closed it a couple of times. Then I got a bit pissed off (as is my way-sometimes)

As it turned out 2 of the screws that hold on the hinges were stripped out. Hum what ta heck, ya know. Now I don’t have to tell you that I’m handy with some tools so I grabbed my fancy-smachy cordless screw driver thingy. Once the screw was out of the top hinge little pieces of wood fell on the floor. That chicken sh$$ cabinet maker stripped out the hole and instead of fixing the hole he shoved broken bits of wood into it. Oh not just on the top hinge but the bottom one too.


It’s a good thing I knew how to fix it and I’m gonna share that with y’all my dear internets.



Find some toothpicks (several in my case) goop on some of that neat invention stuff called wood glue…shove them in the hole as far as you can and try to fill up as much of the hole with tooth picks. Let it dry overnight or longer, pending humidity and your need to put the door back on. This will work with most screw holes that have been stripped out and no longer hold the screw.


Once dry…Score the toothpicks with a tool of your choice (razor blade/box cutter/saw) break or cut them so that they are even with the surface.


It’s best to pre-drill the new hole with a bit that is small than the screw, then put the hinge up thar and screw it.


Tada a woman can fix something correctly that a “professional” cabinet maker couldn’t. Humph!

And this is the conclusion of today’s fix it class. I hope you enjoyed and learned something. If you have suggestions on how to make fixing stuff more fun and exciting please leave a comment and explain yourself or your project


How’s that Christmas / Hanukkah shopping going? Me? Oh I’m almost there…okay so the tree is up anyway.

HAPPY HANUKKAH to all my dear Jewish internets as that time has already begun.

14 comments:

Jeni said...

Thanks for the lesson in wood/carpentry repairs! I never would have known that you can do things like that to fix stuff! Good services you are providing to those of us with little know-how!

Jai Joshi said...

Cool! I didn't know to use toothpicks. I would have just used to wood filler stuff you can buy. This is much better.

Jai

Paul C said...

What a brilliant tip. It's so satisfying to solve a problem like this without a 'professional' draining your bank account.

Georganna Hancock M.S. said...

I must have missed a turn - why didn't you just fill the holes with wood fillerup? That's what I would have done. Of course, I'm not know for my carpentry skills, or any other useful home repair abilities.

And it shows.

Glad you're back! 8-)

Connie said...

Cool tip, Paige! Thank you! The shopping if off to a very slow start here. I guess I better get busy with it.

Connie said...

if=is

ha ha! I typed too fast! :D

Cindy aka Gooblink said...

Neato! Better than duct tape. :)

Deanna Schrayer said...

He shoved pieces of wood in the holes?! The nerve! And I mean that. I would've taken those bits of wood and shoved them....ahem, 'scuse me :)

What a wonderful, and easy, way to fix such a problem Paige. Your super-homemaker-brilliance never ceases to amaze me.

My tip for the day? Stop and pick up every piece of supposed trash you see by people's trash bins, such as - a dresser! Yes, I once got a dresser off the side of the road, and the only thing I could see that the owner may have thought made it trash was that the mirror had been taken off. Maybe they only needed the mirror. Anywho, that dresser became the home for our Chinese water dragon, and then, (when he died), I stripped it and turned it into a buffet/bookshelf. Why would anyone throw out perfectly good stuff?! Why am I not writing my own post?! ;)

Snaggle Tooth said...

Boy, I'd be ready to skin that cabinet maker! (Mickey Mouse comes to mind)- Lets hope the entire cuboard doesn't fall into a shambles...
I have a landlord who does things that way too! So I usually do fix-its myself Also-

Excellent article on the DIYS project! Definately edjumakational.
Now you can slam away without fear!

sheila said...

AWESOME tip!!! I actually can use this tip on a couple old pieces I have! Nice!

desk49 said...

a bit of glue in the hole would have keep you from giving this bit of info.

The screws were put in the soft laver of plywood to. not good.

Jannie Funster said...

Well, since ya a$$ked...

whoops, :)

10 Ways To Make Fixing Stuff More Exciting.

1. whistle a tune
2. suck in your abs intermittently while working (okay, just do this once as you start, and maybe think about it once more after you're done.)
3. contract your buttocks in same fashion.
4. laugh out loud.
5. when you have to get up to get things dance your way to and fro.
6. laugh more.
7. take a bath.
8. get back to it at some point.
9. go for a nice walk.
10. enjoy the day.

Just glad to hear it was not mice that made the bits of wood and such!

And ya done good, miss fixit!

xoxo

Blue Bunny said...

gee, i think my jannie iz a bit sillie wit she kommint.

butt i lieks the laffing and danseing part!! i wil do that on the way to my bath wen i gets up from reeding your more resint post, since i had to reed this ferst to get the bakstory

wit mutch loves

oxox

me, BB

Auntie sezzzzzz... said...

You gotta' hand it to those women, who can work with tools!!!!!!!