Review: Woodmate's
Mr. Grip Screw Hole Repair Kit
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Sooo, while the Woodmate’s 2498 Mr. Grip Screw Hole Repair Kit might not be considered by some to be an actual “tool”, per se, I’m going to go ahead and call it that in the hopes to inform people about a product i did not not existed.
I was in search for some particular screws to use on a DIY project, walking through the aisles of my local hardware store, when I came upon the Woodmate’s 2498 Mr. Grip Screw Hole Repair Kit Never having seen or used these, i will admit that I was cautiously hesitant as I pulled them off the shelf. There are so many products out begging for your cash. I’m sure you’ve seen them before, masquerading under the premise of a cheap and simple solution to some bothersome problem in life. You give it a shot and try it only to find disappointment and broken promises. A lot of these products are just expensive enough to be annoying, but not enough to warrant the time and hassle to deal with trying to return them.
So, I picked the Woodmate’s 2498 Mr. Grip Screw Hole Repair Kit up off the shelf and immediately thought of an issue I have had since a few years back. We have a very expensive sliding glass door that leads to a deck on the back of the house. The door is secured with a latch lever and the latch lever is secured with two screws, one the top of the device and one on the bottom. I’m always careful regarding screws and wood, but despite my exercised caution, the top screw became stripped. This got worse over time as it would gradually loosen with use and need to be tightened. When tightening, it would grab enough to be somewhat snug and then spin. As things like this never break at a convenient time, I figured it would more than likely decide to fall apart late some Sunday evening right before I was going to bed. Whenever I would latch the door that thought would spend some time in the back of my mind until it became distracted by something else. I don’t like wasting my money, but the thought of defeating the latch/door dilemma was enough to push me over the edge. I threw them with the other parts I was buying and headed to the counter.
When I got home, I opened up the Woodmate’s 2498 Mr. Grip Screw Hole Repair Kit I can safely say that one package should last quite a while, as there are eight pieces in each kit and those pieces can be cut into shorter or thinner sections, depending on the size and depth of the hole. The strips are a little thinner than an aluminum pop can and have rasp like sharp teeth that extend out on both sides. To use, you simply insert a strip on both sides of hole and thread the screw down the middle. The teeth are supposed to bite into both the wood sides and screw threads.
Well, let me tell you I was not disappointed. After using only a partial repair strip, the screw that had been causing me grief locked up nice and tight as I drove it into the hole. One of the simplest and easiest fixes I have done, with many leftovers to spare!
When I used the Woodmate’s 2498 Mr. Grip Screw Hole Repair Kit, I trimmed the strip to the desired width, but left the strip long and folded it into a “U” shape. I inserted the “U” into the hold and carefully started the screw. I imagine that when you are tightening a screw with these in place, they twist at the same time helping to lock the whole assembly into place. I read a few reviews that said they didn’t have luck with these and I wonder if folding the strip is the reason I had so much luck.
Since finding the Woodmate’s 2498 Mr. Grip Screw Hole Repair Kit, I have read about some other methods that can be used such as inserting toothpicks with wood glue or drilling/gluing a dowel rod in place. While both these methods may work just as well, these cannot simply be “undone” like this repair kit can.
I would recommend trying this repair kit first and move onto the alternative fixes if this is unsuccessful.