You probably need 4 inch screws to hit the studs. Also, put some bar hand
soap on the threads to make screwing them in easier. The one good trick I
remember from wood shop.


wrote in message
...
On Sat, 18 Feb 2006 21:51:23 GMT, "Art"
wrote:

Instead of that get some tooth picks and elmers wood glue. Fill up the
worn
out holes and let it harden overnight. Then put in the old screws exactly
where they were in the fixed holes.


wrote in message
groups.com...

wrote:

Not much of a carpenter, but I can follow directions. The front door of
my mom's house has always worked perfectly. But my last two visits, the
darn door will not latch when I pull it shut.

OP again. Turns out the little box "thing" (strike plate? LOL) was
extremely loose. One screw wasn't holding at all....stripped out and
the second screw was loose. So, I tried tightening it down, but no
real luck.

I took it off completely and it now and latches fine in the "open hole
in the frame." But it is really loose and moves back and forth quite a
bit. So, the new plan is to go back tommorrow with longer screws and
my electric drill and a grinder bit and grind a bit of steel off the
strike plate thing and then try to tighten down well with the longer
screws....sound reasonable?



I agree, but I'd still use longer screws. About 2 inches. You
probably got the 3/4" ones that came with the lock. It's more secure
if you go into the studs. Here's a trick I heard but never tried
because I dont wear lipstick (sorry guys). Put lipstick on the
striker (not the plate, the thing that sticks out the door. Close the
door and see if any lipstick is visible on the top or bottom of the
striker plate. If it does, the striker plate is off and needs to be
raised or lowered. So, when you get there ask your mom for some
lipstick, and if she asks why, tell her you're trying something new.
(that ought to get her shook up).

They do make oversized striker plates. The hole is longer, and the
whole plate is longer. When the building shifts, you dont have the
problem with the door not latching. A house with a foundation should
not shift much, but on a garage, shed or barn door, I dont even use
the original ones anymore. Those buildings shift and there's no sense
redoing it later, which usually happens in the dead of winter.
Persoanlly, I think all striker plates should have longer holes, but
they wont listen to me.....

Mark