, , ,

Day 4 – Removing a Stripped (or Painted) Screw

31 Days of Handy Home Fixes | Pretty Handy Girl

Welcome to Day 4 of my 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes.  What happens when you strip a screw head just enough that the screwdriver won’t get a good grip? Or the screw has been painted over so many times that you can’t get the screwdriver head in the hole? Ahhh, well, I have two quick tips for solving this problem!

Grab a thick rubberband, your screwdriver and a hammer.

Day 3. Removing a Stripped (or painted) Screw

If your screw is painted over, this tip will probably work for you. Set the screwdriver in the screw head (be sure to line up the grooves in the screw with the screwdriver cross. Use the hammer to give the screwdriver one good whack.

The pressure will either crack the paint or set the screwdriver in just enough to get a grip on that stubborn screw.

Need a plan B? Use a rubber band!

Stripped Screw? Use the Rubberband Trick | Pretty Handy Girl

Slip a thick rubber band over the end of the screwdriver. Insert it into the screw head.

Stripped Screw? Use the Rubberband Trick | Pretty Handy Girl

Turn to remove the screw. The rubber band will fill in the hole and give some gripping power while turning the screw.

Stripped Screw? Use the Rubberband Trick | Pretty Handy Girl

Uh oh, the screw still won’t come out? Here’s plan C: Use a dremel to get the screw out!

PHGFancySign

Also check out other participants in Nester’s 31 Days Challenge.

31 Day Writing Challenge

For the entire month of October I’ll be bringing you tips and fixes you can do to protect your home, save money and save time. Stick around to learn more tips tomorrow. Sign up to get all the tips in your email:


Sign Up for Email Subscription


Other tips in the 31 Days of Handy Home Fixes series:


6 replies
  1. Zach Hartman
    Zach Hartman says:

    This is an astounding trick! I’ve run into so, so many situations where someone used the wrong screwdriver and seriously messed up the head. Aside from those tools they advertise on TV (which I doubt work that well anyway), the only thing I could think to do was apply more force.

    I’ve even resorted to grinding down the point on my Philips head! I wish I knew about this trick. My mind is blown…by a rubber band. Thanks a lot!

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] stripped. Or worse, you come across a screw that is stripped and you can’t remove it. If the rubber band trick won’t work, this is the Must Have Gadget to Remove Stripped Screws that will help you […]

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.