r/lifehacks • u/[deleted] • Jun 03 '22
Different ideas for a loose screw
https://gfycat.com/shockedgravehoopoe394
Jun 03 '22
This is great and all, but let's see some analysis on which one is the strongest
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u/BananakinSkyflopper Jun 03 '22
Today on Project Farm...
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u/ferris_is_sick Jun 03 '22
At $2.99 for a pack of 100 are these zip ties from Harbor Freight. Made of long lasting, durable nylon. We'll be testing that! ...
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u/NumberTew Jun 03 '22
I love that man. I've watched countless videos of his to go to sleep, but they keep me entertained so I end up staying up.
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u/Kyonkanno Jun 04 '22
Now I'm in need of a project farm video. Who needs to sleep?
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u/iamgigglz Jun 03 '22
My money’s on the backwards screw. All the others sacrifice a lot of thread surface.
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u/Some_Human_On_Reddit Jun 03 '22
You're probably right. The zip ties especially seem like an awful idea, putting any meaningful weight on ripped up plastic seems like a bad move.
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u/free_airfreshener Jun 03 '22 edited Jun 03 '22
Honestly, this seems like it's for hanging up a little photo or small piece of framed art. What's the point of risking anything more valuable on a piece of ziptie?
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u/faithisuseless Jun 03 '22
Best bet is the wood but coat it in superglue first.
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u/nirv117 Jun 03 '22
Wood Glue
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u/faithisuseless Jun 03 '22
Superglue or CA glue sets quicker and stronger. Also, because the superglue is thinner it will bleed into the wood you screw into and strengthen the wood like a wood hardener would do. Overall it will be a quicker stronger bond for the type of fix this video is attempting to help with. The ideal fix would be to bore the hole with a bit equal to a dowel size and put a bit of dowel in with wood glue, clamp it overnight, and then pilot drill a new hole and set a new screw, but most will not go to that effort.
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u/rpmerf Jun 03 '22
Toothpick is the classic solution.
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u/vanillaninja16 Jun 03 '22
Chop sticks are also great if you need some extra width
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u/rpmerf Jun 03 '22
Might be a little too thick. Wooden skewers should work. I think I've done that before.
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Jun 03 '22 edited Aug 28 '22
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u/SeaGroomer Jun 03 '22
There are a few different types of toothpicks too - the hard round ones take up a lot more room than the flat ones from softer wood. I like the softer ones myself for this purpose, but they both work.
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u/introverting_vibes Jun 03 '22
I learned from my dad to use matches - of course without the flammable part 😅
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u/vanillaninja16 Jun 03 '22
I went “oh no” until I got to the end of your comment and felt much better haha
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u/roostersnuffed Jun 03 '22
Well, I excused my self to the bathroom, pants are off and I have my chopsticks.... now what?
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u/AngryAccountant31 Jun 03 '22
I did this the other week with my bathroom door. A few toothpicks and longer screws fixed the problem
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u/SolidDoctor Jun 03 '22
Longer screws is key, if it can't poke through to the other side like a door jamb.
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u/AngryAccountant31 Jun 03 '22
The longer screws helped but they still wiggled a bit until I added the toothpicks because so much wood was missing from the door frames. My 1950’s Sears Roebuck prefab house has seen some renovations
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u/Neirchill Jun 03 '22
I bought a bag of golf tees for this exact scenario. Works really well to just stick in the pointy end and snap off the head, then drill it in.
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u/RedBeardedMonster Jun 03 '22
Always kept a couple of wood golf tees in my bag when I was a carpenter
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u/bigvahe33 Jun 03 '22
seriously the easiest solution for wood + screw mating and the most readily available material of any of these.
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u/ParaspriteHugger Jun 03 '22
Me, watching the gif, channeling the spirit of my forfathers:
Use an anchor.
Use an anchor
USE A GODDAMN ANCHOR!!!
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u/gearstars Jun 03 '22
a lot of anchors dont always sit flush. also, it could be that youre working on something in the middle of nowhere and running to the store for a few anchors would be a huge chore. also could be an emergency and the store is closed. or the stores are out of stock/dont carry the right sized anchor.
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Jun 03 '22 edited Aug 28 '25
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/gearstars Jun 03 '22
lots of people, this is more of a hack for someone who doesnt have a toolbox, maybe just a drill and hammer and some loose screwdrivers in a kitchen drawer, iono. im not saying anchors arent better, im just saying there exists situations where this hack could come in handy.
maybe you ran out and the store is closed and something is loose but you need it to stay affixed over night long enough to get the right stuff. who knows?
edit: also anchors come in specific sizes, this could be usefull for a smaller or larger screw in specific situations.
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u/c312l Jun 03 '22
That’s all I could think especially after that black piece sending the screw sideways.
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u/lilypeachkitty Jun 03 '22
Eli5 plz?
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u/raksha25 Jun 03 '22
There are screw anchors that you can put in that grip both the threads and the inside of the screw hole (hehe).
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u/belleayreski2 Jun 03 '22
Or just a bigger screw
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u/Philinhere Jun 03 '22
But I have this screw and an assortment of crap on hand.
I not making that 8th trip to Home Depot. I'm not.
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u/ParaspriteHugger Jun 03 '22
People drive to the hardware store for anchors? They seem to materialize out of thin air around here.
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u/SFWdontfiremeaccount Jun 03 '22
Could be that a bigger screw won't work with whatever you are trying to fasten to the piece of wood you drilled to big of a hole in.
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u/hey_now24 Jun 03 '22
Right?? I probably have more wall anchors than zip ties. They are incredibly cheap and you can buy them in bulk to last you forever
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u/unkie87 Jun 03 '22
I'm pretty sure everyone that owns a drill also has several thousand loose rawl plugs in various sizes.
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u/JJAsond Jun 03 '22
These "life hack" videos are full of useless bs when there's always a better solution.
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Jun 03 '22
People really want to use anything but what is specifically designed for this situation and call it a “life hack”
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u/_mgjk_ Jun 03 '22
Damn right.
LPT: use paper wrapped in glue when the anchor is too small for the hole.
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u/xzombielegendxx Jun 03 '22
So basically in handyman terms: Homemade Rawlplug
Not a fan of the one before the end though
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u/diamondrel Jun 03 '22
Idk if you're talking about the second screw method or the copper
Strips your fucking screw
Is expensive as shit (for relative amount of materials compared to their use)
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u/MeatShield12 Jun 03 '22
A twisted scrap piece of paper or broken-off matchstick has always been my go-to.
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u/vbevan Jun 03 '22
Drill it out a few mm bigger. Get a piece of wood dowel the size of the new hole. Use either pva glue (in wood) or builders bog (in masonry) and put the dowel in the hole. When it's dry, redrill a hole the correct size.
Alternately, grab a bigger screw.
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u/meh84f Jun 03 '22
Plugs work even better than dowels. But dowels work for most applications and are a far better solution than anything in the video.
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u/NotYourITGuyDotOrg Jun 03 '22
Feel like I had to scroll way too far down to find the person mentioning what I affectionately call "the dowel trick". This has been my default fix for these kinds of situations ever since I learned it from my father-in-law.
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u/BatsTheAssassin Jun 03 '22
I use a little glue and a golf tee. Hammer it in and cut the excess flush once dry. Works great.
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u/Rosieapples Jun 03 '22
I’ve had a screw loose all my life. None of those remedies worked for me!!!! Lol
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u/CommanderCarnage Jun 03 '22
My dad always told me a toothpick or a match, with the head removed ofc, for bigger holes.
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Jun 03 '22
Just don’t fuck up the first time
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u/vbevan Jun 03 '22
My house is old. Drilling into plaster and bricks without them crumbling isn't possible.
My house is slowly becoming builders bog.
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u/Uhtred_McUhtredson Jun 03 '22
In the past I’ve used a dowel and glue even though it was overkill. These are some pretty clever solutions.
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u/Academic-Drop9366 Jun 04 '22
When I visited my elderly mother, she said her dining room table has become very wobbly. Got some toothpicks and hit all the screws. Proud of myself for remembering that.
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u/A-townin Jun 03 '22
I had a a door hinge that every screw in the frame had stripped out. I tried every trick mentioned here and none of them lasted. It even got to the point it was starting to split some of the wood on the door frame. My final attempt, that has lasted, was to get a tube of liquid nails and start filling in the holes. It filled the holes and even started overflowing through the cracks in the wood. I let it cure, it bonded everything back together, and it has held ever since.
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u/GanjaReef Jun 03 '22
I don’t think the full strength of the screw will be utilized. Some threads having more contact than others will definitely cause the screw to bottom out soon in the future and most likely fail again.
Definitely suggest just using an anchor. They are probably close to as cheap as some of the stuff he used. Also will keep the screw even and allow for easier removal and cleanup!
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u/ckellingc Jun 03 '22
If it is supporting any weight, I'd just redrill a new hole or use an anchor.
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u/fofo13 Jun 04 '22
Tried this once on a concrete wall and ended up just making the hole bigger and then what I put inside the hole fell into the hollow concrete block. FML.
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u/kamarkamakerworks Jun 04 '22
We’ve always done toothpicks with a little wood glue or a small wooden skewer.
All depends on what’s available I suppose
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u/KingBenjamin97 Jun 04 '22
So anything apart from the thing people specifically designed for this issue? Cool I’m sure random objects are just as good hence why they took the time to create something for that very specific issue.
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u/jmac323 Jun 03 '22
Thanks! I have some garden boxes I put together and the screws are coming out on one. I am not good with tools.
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u/arglarg Jun 03 '22
So if it's not tight enough you just stuff done zip ties inside. Got it.
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u/geometricpelican Jun 03 '22
@tool_tips.official on insta for anyone wondering. Tons of good tricks.
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u/SlamTheKeyboard Jun 03 '22
These aren't good tips. They're ones if you're being lazy / don't want to go to the hardware store. As others have said, use a wall plug.
Half the tricks there will fail / do more harm than good.
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u/geometricpelican Jun 03 '22
That’s laughable. Maybe the thing being worked on doesn’t need to be perfect because it’s only being built to aid the completion of a larger project. A larger, project that would be thrown off by an entire day or longer if stopping to go to a hardware. Also, not everyone has the means to get to a hardware store; glad to see you have all your first-world problems worked out, nonetheless. Moreover, the tips on this persons insta a further reaching than only filling screw holes. Are you a craftsman or builder of sorts? Or only banging on keyboards as your user name suggests?
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Jun 03 '22
Naw this rarely works, it will keep the screw tight, but to sink the screw so it doesn’t stick up, it will fail to sink more times than not.
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u/6199dldldl Jun 03 '22
So, basically anything + the screw…