As the title states, the screw holes in my metal door frame are stripped out and do not hold the screws for my strike plates. The door is a finely made iron and glass door (heavy), but the metal for the frame is fairly thin. I thought about doing a helicoil, but I think the metal may still be too thin to hold a good coil. Any ideas on a solution that will look good (this is my entry door)? Thanks!
2 Answers
If you have sufficient space behind the material in which the hole has stripped, you may be able to make use of a rivnut. It's a threaded insert which matches the required threads (machine screw, not sheet metal or wood screw) and requires a larger hole to be drilled. Once inserted, the tool compresses the back side in the same manner as a pop-rivet or blind rivet and secures the threaded portion for return to normal use.
The image above shows a metric version available from Amazon.com, but SAE sizes are also common enough. Some tools for installation can be expensive, or as simple as a wedge with a bolt to apply the proper force.
The above, also from Amazon.com is obviously not a wedge type, but is not the hundred dollar version.
Can you use a tap and die set to enlarge the hole to the next size that would work and upsize the hole in the strike plate to accommodate a larger diameter screw for the upsized hole?