56
The ultimate landlord special: leaving a massive wardrobe in the master bedroom to avoid painting some wallpaper. (lemmy.ml)
submitted 6 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
7 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The wardrobe was massive and a god damn awful pain in the arse to unbuild (and too big to take to the tip in our tiny car) but it had to be done, leaving this gross wallpaper and possibly damage all the way to the original plaster from ca. 1907.

The shelving tracks on the right are ancient and the screws just wont budge at all. There's half a dozen layers of paint and wallpaper making it worse (you can see how deep it goes where the shelves have been in place even longer). Any ideas on decimating some old ass screws would be cool. We can afford to hire or borrow powertools if that's necessary.

EDIT oh we peeled some of it back and the plaster is fucked to the brick lmao

top 7 comments
sorted by: hot top new old
[-] [email protected] 9 points 6 days ago

Drill screw heads out. Remove tracks. Use vice grips or similar locking pliers to bite down on threaded shafts and spin em out. Or use a grinder to cut a larger groove into the screw head and use a big flathead or cut a large cross into the top and use and no 3 philips screwdriver to remove them.

If the screws are pan heads you might be able tilo bite onto the lip with a pair of locking pliers and forgo tge grinding/drilling/etc.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 6 days ago

They make specific bits to remove broken screws as well and that is a bit more desirable. They aren't magic so they only work sometimes but if they fail you're part of the way to drilling the screw out anyway.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

We've got some screw extractor bits but might be a bit small for these monsters. We managed to pry a few out with force and a few others with some pliers and a bunch of twisting.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

Yeah but these arent broken, just stuck. At least not judging by included photo they arent.

Extractors have a time and place but theyre more of a last resort than a first line IMO. These screws just appear to be in wood so OP just needs more leverage frankly, hence the suggestion of a larger slot which will allow a no 3 philips or a 5/16 or 3/8 flathead to get more bite.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 5 days ago

They're in ancient wall plugs that were put into masonry/plaster but hopefully with more leverage we can do something with them. The tracks are limiting our options with getting something like a hacksaw behind em.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 6 days ago

Try a drill on the screws…failing that, drill them out. You’ll probably end up having to drill holes in the wall to get them out…

Or…you could cut the shelf rails off leaving the screws intact and exposed, then get some mole grips, a decent branded pair, and you might be able to untwist them.

It’s going to be a pain in the arse either way. Good luck.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 6 days ago

My go to is hammer, screwdriver, penetrating fluid. Soak the screw with fluid, wait a few minutes, then place the screwdriver onto the screw and tap the end with the hammer. If that doesn't work, electric impact it out. If that doesn't work, ez outs. If that doesn't work, sledgehammer.

this post was submitted on 24 May 2025
56 points (98.3% liked)

diy

22185 readers
3 users here now

Finally, a comm for that one user who hand-makes longbows. This ones for you, comrade.

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
[email protected]
[email protected]