How do I repair stripped hinge screw holes in metal clad entrance door?
ask for tapcons at the hardware store ,or break toothpics off in the stripped holes ,and drive the screws in.
You might have to drill out the old hole and insert a wall anchor....you know...it's the little plastic or metal thing that spreads out when you screw in the screw...it expands and holds the screw in place.
You need to plane the door down. If you don't have a planer, you can try 2 things. First try taking the door off. Remove the hinges and chisel the notch/mortise for the hinge an 1/8 or so deeper and remount the hinges and reset the door and see if that fixes it. Important: get new screws and make sure they are longer then what you took out. I would go as long as 1 1/2. You should also replace the ones in the frame with longer ones to. Use a 2 1/2-3 screw in one of the holes of each hinge in the frame. This is what should be done when a door is initially installed. Those longer screws are called set screws. If you are still rubbing and you don't have a planer, but do have a circular saw, you can clamp a straight edge to the door as a guide and cut the door. If you do cut it or plane it, do it on the hinge side. I think if you try the deeper notches on the door, your door will open easier for you. If it improves it but it still is a little snug, try putting some paint stripper in the inside of the frame and remove the multiple layers of paint, then sand it and repaint it. Just sanding the frame as you suggested may work, but if it's a tight as it sounds, you would have allot to sand. 80 yrs old, I guess it's probably got at least 6 coats of paint. By the way your toothpick thing is a trick if you need to fill a hole and put a screw in close to that original hole. What you did, didn't really help. it might have compounded the problem. I hope this helps you some and good luck
Is the door metal, or metal clad wood? If the door is wood core, you can fill the holes with toothpicks and wood glue. Let it set up, cut the toothpicks flush with the surface, and drill a new pilot hole for the screw. If the door is metal, you will need to drill and tap a slightly larger hole. Residential doors are usually a #10-24 screw, commercial are #12-24. You would retap the residential door to #12-24 and the commercial door to 1/4-20. Replace with new screws and you are set. Hope this helps.
