I need to put a door into a jamb. Already I've had to chip off the 312 layers of paint accumulated since 1940 in order to get the thing to barely fit, and now I need to put in the hinges. There are notches that were cut for the previous hinges, but the screwholes are totally stripped (and maybe a little rotted). My question is, do I just enlarge the notches enough to create new holes a safe distance from the others (and if so how would you do that with a minimal set of cheap tools), or do I try to fill in the holes with dowels and some sort of epoxy and re-screw them?

Thanks for your help. I know there are a few of you who know your way around DIY (and screwholes).

filling in with dowels is enough as long as the screw is tight enough to expand the dowel like an anchor plug. no epoxy needed really, but it doesn't hurt.

I had a similar problem with my bathroom door a year ago, though probably not to the same extent. My half-assed self just bought some screws that were wide enough to fit tight and a good bit longer, yet still fit through the holes in the hinges.

Just take some wooden matches, dip 'em in Elmer's Wood Glue and stick 'em in the holes. As many matches as needed. Then just screw in the screws. I don't even wait for the glue to dry.

fp

wooden matches! brilliant! cheap!

Flammable! Incredible!

Finch, this is a good idea - one of those 'think outside the box' kinda things that always makes me feel stupid once somebody brings it to my attention... "Why didn't I think of that?"

Don't forget to break 'em off after sticking them in the hole, or just use a pair of side-cutters to snip 'em off even w/ the top of the hole.

fp

This is also the defacto recommendation in any guitar manual for stripped-out strap button holes. At least that's where I first saw it.

Haq - Rotten, possibly? You got water back in there? That wouldn't be good.

Probably not that bad, more just old than anything. It's pretty old wood. I think the dowel concept will work though.

get some plastic molly wall anchors

They are like $1.79 for a box of them at anyhardware store.