I drilled a 7/8″ hole for a deadbolt about 7/16″ too high. Oh well, I thought, I’ll just glue in a piece of 7/8″ dowel and re bore the hole.
You guys probably already know that didn’t work because 7/8″ dowels are about 1/32″ undersized.
So how do I plug my error so ther’ll be some “meat” around the upper screw of the deadbolt strike?
Replies
Get a piece of 1" dowel and sand on it until it fits the hole snugly.
Glue it in, and Bob's yer uncle.
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Square it up with a chisel and rip some out of a 2X to fit...
don't put in a dowel - the grain runs the wrong direction and it will always show through paint.
Make a face-grained piece (of the same-ish wood, likely fir?) to glue in.
Forrest
cut a plug using a hole saw...
match up the grain....
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We allways do what IMERC reccomended and set the plug in bodyfiller for paint grade or epoxy for bright finish.
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I occasionally fabricate longer/wider strike plates and/or larger escutcheons out of matching metal to cover old installs of door hardware when installing new.
Might be able to do similar in your situation.
Bright brass is easiest to do.
Where's Sphere when you need him.
Oh well, I'll fill in for him this one time.
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Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
Thanks guys for the suggestions. Now I know some resources for repairing damage to good visible surfaces.
I ended up using a piece of 7/8" dowel after all. I cut it to length, coated it with wood glue, inserted in the hole, split it with a chisel and hammered a glued shim into the crack to press the halves against the edges of the hole. Not good enough for finished work, but for this, out of sight under a deadbolt strike, it gave me the support I needed for the strike plate and it was solid enough to re-drill the hole for the bolt with a spade bit. I drilled clear through my plug for the upper strike screw and used 2 1/2" screw that could reach through into the trimmer.
Looks good from my house.