We all must have tried to fix something on our own at home. It happens in every household whether it is as small as installing a screw in the wall to hang a painting or fixing a wooden cabinet.
During this process, we must have also faced a situation of a stripped screw at some point. For the lucky ones who have never faced such situation, a screw becomes stripped when its head is damaged and a screwdriver cannot have a good grip and we have to remove it.
The ones who have faced it know that how annoying this situation can be. When something like this happens, we start panicking and nothing comes to our mind.
Removing the screw sounds very difficult and almost impossible at this time. But here we are going to show you a few ways in which you can easily take out a stripped screw.
- Rubber band
Rubber band is something that you will easily get in your house. Yes, it sounds impossible to remove a stripped screw with a rubber band but it is not. In fact, it is very easy to remove a stripped screw with a rubber band.
- Simply, take a rubber band and put it on the stripped screw.
- Now, take your screwdriver and insert it in the head of the screw.
- Remove the screw slowly.
The main thing to be kept in mind when using a rubber band is to go as slowly as possible. Now, in case you do not have a rubber band available or if this method did not work for you due to any reason then you can try any other method.
- Use a plier
In case, you have a plier at home then you can remove the stripped screw using the plier. But you have to make sure that the screw is not completely inside the wood or metal. If this is the case, then this trick may not work.
Try to hold the grip of the screw using a plier and rotate it until the screw comes out.
- Flathead screwdriver
If the screw has a Philips head, then this trick may work for you. Take a flathead screwdriver which you think will fit in the screw head hole. This trick will require a little more of your strength.
You can also use this trick with the rubber band one.
- Screwdriver and a hammer
If you have access to both screwdriver and a hammer, then you can try this trick. Take a screwdriver and put it over the stripped screw. Now take a hammer and tap the handle of the screwdriver.
This can help the screwdriver go a little deeper in the stripped screw and it can provide you a grip to take the screw out.
This trick is a hit or miss. It can be possible in some cases while in other cases, this trick may not work. But there is no harm in trying if you have the tools to remove stripped screw.
- Use a drill
Everyone may not have a drill at home but in case, you have one then this trick is for you. For this method, you need a drill and drill bits but make sure that the drill bit should be smaller than the head of the screw.
- Place the drill bit in the centre of the head of the screw.
- Start drilling slowly and make a hole. The depth of the hole should be around 1/8 to 1/16 inches.
- Now take out the drill bit from the drill and after doing this, you can switch back to the driver bit.
- The hole that you have just made can sometimes help the driver bit in going far in the screw and it can hold a good grip.
- Use a screw extraction kit
If you have never heard of a screw extraction kit, then for your information, there are special kits available in the market that are made just to remove the stripped screws.
Stripped screw is a common issue that anyone can face at any point of time. If you are someone who is interested in DIYs and fixing things, then you can definitely buy this kit. You can get this kit online easily.
A screw extraction kit is very affordable and easy to use. This kit has a drill bit with two ends from which one end is used to drill into the stripped screw. Create a hole in the screw and then apply a little pressure with slow speed.
Once the impression has been created, turn the bit to make the extraction visible. Reverse the drill and run it with a little pressure to take out the screw. Your screw will be removed in no time.
So the above methods are great for a stripped screw removal. The easiest and the most basic trick is the rubber band trick. If you can remove the stripped screw with that then you do not need to try other methods.
But sometimes the screw can be so stripped that it will not come out with the rubber band trick and if it does not work, you can definitely try the other methods.
If you have experienced the stripped screw situation for the first time, then it is a good idea to watch some tutorials first as you will get a better idea on how to use the above mentioned tools to remove broken screw.
In case, nothing works for you and you are new to this then you can definitely take the help of a professional or someone more experienced in these things. The main thing to remember is not to panic in such situations.
This situation can definitely be very annoying but one needs to remember not to panic in such situations as they are very common.
If you are someone who is not into doing such things, you should still take a note of these points as when nothing comes to our mind when the situation actually occurs.
