The Quick DIY Door Fix To Stabilize Loose Hinges Using Items You Have At Home

It's easy for door hinges to loosen over time, as frequent use wiggles the screws around and strips out the holes. Fortunately, it's even easier to fix these issues in minutes! If you have a door that's leaning and hanging from the frame because of a ruined screw hole, you can reinforce it in a few quick steps with household materials. TikToker Mercury Stardust shows just how simple it can be, using a handful of toothpicks to restore the hinge for an interior door. The DIY hack is hassle-free and reliable, and you can use it to fix any stripped screw holes around the house, from cabinet door hinges to appliance handles.

For this DIY, you'll pack a bundle of toothpicks into the stripped hole and reinstall the hinge. The wooden toothpicks will flex out to grab hold of the surrounding frame while also securing the screw in place. But before you stick them into place, coat the bundle in wood glue. PVA varieties like Gorilla Ultimate Wood Glue will seep between the wood fibers to bolster the grip between the toothpicks and the wood frame, supposedly creating a bond stronger than the wood itself. Pack the toothpicks tightly into the hole, and trim off the excess. Hammer them in until the ends are flush with the door frame. Once the glue dries, you can drill a pilot hole and install a screw to make your door work like new.

Toothpicks are an easy-to-use and often readily available remedy for a loose door hinge, but you can find several substitutes if you're all out. Matchsticks, chopsticks, or popsicle sticks make convenient fixes. Or, you could opt for a wood dowel to fill the damaged hole, a common solution for broken cabinet door hinges. Use a large drill bit to widen the hole if needed to fit your filler. No matter what you use, you can pre-drill a pilot hole before inserting your screw to ensure it goes cleanly through the fill material's center.

Loose hinges can pop up at any time, so it may pay to be prepared. Rather than having to root around for toothpicks or other wood screw holds, you can keep a cheap, multi-use solution on hand whenever there's a repair job. Epoxy wood filler (e.g. J-D Weld wood filler) is great for all kinds of DIY projects, whether you're fixing holes in wood trim or repairing the busted edge of a wood cabinet. Cut out a small portion and mix it to fill your stripped screw hole, and the hardened putty will supply a strong bond to reliably secure door hinge screws. Though less versatile as a wood repair tool, a kit like the Screw It Again anchors can fix loose hinges in seconds. The plugs work for a range of screw sizes, making them a handy addition to your toolkit to help with future door hinge problems and beyond.