Longer door hinge screws don't have enough reach on the house side, now what?

[lafinfil]

You really just need to get into the jack stud. On a new pre-hung door they supply a 4" screw. Remove one of the old screws and take it to hardware store and match for size and type (i.e. # 10 flat head Phillips wood screw) and then buy a pack of 4" versions. You will want to drill the hole a little deeper with the proper drill bit (undersized) otherwise you will probably strip the head before you get it in.

[Carm]

Agreed. Only need to go to the Jackstud. If you cant find screws longer than 3" you are looking in the wrong spot. 3" is all you need for a door.

[dohc76]

You could try something like these:

Adjustable Shim Screws

[JoeH]

Only reason you should need screws longer than 3-3.5" is if the door was not framed correctly. Use billb's suggestion of using a piece of stiff wire to probe through the existing screw holes in the jamb and see how far it is until something solid. Builder could have cut corners and not run a jack stud the full length or just used scraps and hid it with the trim. You might have to take off the trim and add blocking or shims in the area of the hinge if the gap is too large, otherwise tightening long screws through an empty gap could distort the door frame.

[deckeda]

According to the coat hanger, the distance is 2.5" for both screw holes.

I will see about getting a long enough small-diameter drill bit. Don't want to come this far and break off my new 3" screws I'm about to buy.

[JoeH]

If that is the distance, then get at least 3.5" screws. A half inch of penetration just is not enough, it will eventually loosen up and cause the hole to strip out again. As for the distance, it is beginning to sound like the builder either left out the jack stud completely or rough framed for a different sized door.

[Big Daddy Cool]

In addition to the above advice, If the original holes are enlarged from the years of being loose, after drilling your longer pilot holes, you can hammer in any combo of wood skewers, toothpicks, etc, to give some more lateral support to the new screws. If holes are totally shot, you can whack in some golf tees before and drill through those. depends on how bad the jam is and how many different people/doors were there previously.

[Mike Johnson]

Best practice would be to reframe the door but that's not a small job. So, eh.

Longer screws are preferred because it makes it that much harder for somebody to kick your door in. #10 screws will have a larger head and likely won't sit flush in the countersink. If they sit 1/16" proud, you may have trouble closing the door. Besides, the difference in diameter is not that great, certainly not enough to make a solid fastening in stripped hole.

Don't fret about saving wood for next time.

Get a dowel that fits tightly in the screw holes. Maybe score a couple grooves in it if you're feeling industrious (they're for glue squeeze out). Go ahead and cut off two inches. Apply some yellow glue and stick it in the screw hole so it's flush. When it's dry, you can drill a pilot hole, then screw into it and it'll be about as sound as it ever was.

If your dowel is a little over sized, it's better to sand it down a little with some 60 grit than to enlarge the hole with the appropriate bit, but you can do it either way. A tighter fit is a better fit, really -- if you have to taper an end and then force it in, that's fine, as long as you don't have to pound it so hard that all the glue is wiped out of the joint. It's best if you can drill and screw into the dowel without it spinning while the glue is still setting. Remember, the screw itself is a spiral wedge, and will expand the plug to fit tightly in the old hole.

That sort of repair in wood is typically stronger than the wood itself -- well mated face grain surfaces with yellow glue is super strong. Put a properly glued joint in a hydraulic press and the wood will break, not the glue joint.

On the other hand, if your dowel is a little too small, mask the area well and use a two-part 30-minute epoxy because it will fill the gap. Wait several hours before messing with it. But again, tighter is better. I've rehung many, many doors, and installed countless doorknobs and locksets and deadbolts, and almost always I plug up the old holes to make a stronger fastening, be it for a door hinge or a strike plate.

I wouldn't recommend Gorilla Glue. Some would.

On a side note, I can't imagine not having tooth picks and bamboo skewers and a whole range of dowels for these kinds of repairs. On tiny projects, you usually don't even need glue or a new pilot hole. Stick in a toothpick, break it off, and now the screw will grab just fine. On small projects (the hinge on a kitchen cabinet door comes to mind), you usually need either glue or a pilot hole, but not both. Imagine the stripped hole -- it has jagged furrows instead of smooth walls. You pop in a dowel that barely fits. When you drill into the dowel, most of the wood fibers in the dowel will stay intact, because the grain runs along the length of the dowel. They can stretch and bend and will wedge into those furrows and make a tight fit. It's almost like they jacket the screw.

This is also how you can move a hole a smidge to one side. Plug the old one, make it solid and flush, drill a new pilot hole. Moving a 1/4" hole 1/8" to the side is nearly impossible otherwise.

I hope that makes sense!

[RAMd®d]

Mike, you rock!

I've CnP'ed that for later use.

Thanks!

[deckeda]

Cool, I like having choices. Didn't get to it today. Went back to HD and Lowes looking for #9 3" screws and found none. (They've both been out of stock for a few days or more.) I got #10 4" screws but am reluctant to use a #10 because of the head, and don't want to enlarge the hole any more unless necessary. Both holes aren't stripped badly---you can't pull out the existing screws. They just don't tighten.

I'm liking the glued toothpick idea; doubt anything bigger would fit in. And it sounds as if I wouldn't need super long screws. We're not concerned with anyone breaking the door in, it's that glass right by it that's probably a bigger target (the deadbolt uses a key on the inside as well, not a lever, and the key is is not kept in the door.)

Question about the toothpick/dowel method. Should I expect the drill to still go straight perpendicular in, assuming I hold the drill level, or will all the stuff in there cause the drill bit to dance around and wind up cockeyed?