By Noelle Lord | Photos by Peter Lord

Doors are workhorses designed to open and close thousands of times a year, and it's the hinges that carry the load, supporting the weight and movement each time a door gets opened. Since traditional hinges are held in place with slotted screws that grab into jamb casings about 1" thick, it's common for the top hinge to start loosening up over time. This is especially true if a range of common old-house maladies come into play, like settling, structural movement, and paint buildup. Without attention, a loosening hinge screw will wear a larger and larger hole around itself, eventually falling out or coming unhinged. The problem is common in old houses, but it's a relatively easy one to fix without stooping to the glue-in-a-golf-tee quickie. By fitting a dowel (or face-grained plug) into the stretched-out hole, you can create a stable new surface to screw your fastener into, which will get your door back into the swing of things in no time.

	1. Match Materials Over years of wear, hinge holes can stretch to nearly double their original size. To fix them, start by selecting a dowel slightly larger than the worn-out screw hole, and long enough to handle comfortably. Next, find a drill bit that matches the dowel's diameter; you'll use it to bore a clean hole to accept the dowel.
	2. Measure Dimensions The new hole should extend only as deep as the original screw. An easy way to ensure this is with a gauge: Hold the screw next to the drill bit, and mark off its length with blue tape. When your drilling reaches the tape, you'll know it's time to stop.
	3. Insert Dowel Spread wood glue over the dowel, using a paintbrush to apply a thin, even coat. Then take a hammer, and gently tap the dowel securely into the hole. Allow the glue to dry for several hours. Paring flat sides on the dowel helps it hold.
	4. Trim To Fit It is important to cut the dowel down flush with the bottom of the hinge gain because the hinge must sit flush and snugly in this pocket. Use a kerf saw (pictured) or a small, flush-cutting hand saw to trim the dowel's end, then fine-tune any rough edges away with a small, sharp wood chisel.
	5. Mark The Spot Hold the hinge leaf in place, and pencil a mark where the fastener will go. Then, with a tapered drill bit that is slightly thinner than the fastener, bore a pilot hole the depth of the screw, using the blue tape trick once again to determine when to stop.
	6. Reattach The Hinge With the pilot hole as a guide, put the hinge in place and reattach the original fastener; it should screw tightly into position.
	7. Hang It Up Don't risk bending or breaking the hinge pin or damaging the leaf knuckles by moving too fast on the door reinstallation. Instead, take a nail set or punch hammer and slowly tap directly above the pin, moving it gently past the hinge knuckles. Then finish setting the hinge with a hammer. The new hinge should operate smoothly for decades, especially if you remember to oil it regularly to help reduce friction and wear.