How To Tighten a Screw in 15 Steps: Welcome to the 144th Metamorphosis Monday!

Sometimes the solution to a problem is right under your nose, but you just can't see it. Recently, I almost turned a super easy repair into an expensive repair. In the end, the home repair muses were watching out for me.

In the family room...

...there's a door that leads out onto the screened-in porch.  I rarely use that door.

Instead, this door leading from the breakfast area/kitchen is the one I most often use when I'm heading out to the porch.

About a month or two ago, I headed out to the porch through the door in the family room and this happened. Have you ever pulled on a door knob, only to have it come right off in your hand?  It's a funny feeling when that happens--like your house is playing a joke on you.


Four years ago when I replaced my badly worn deck for a screened-in porch, I replaced the remaining knobs on all the outside doors with the polished Baldwin Brass knobs.  I know, I know...everyone is installing the oiled rubbed bronze, and I do like that look, but I still love the look of polished brass for my home.

There are six doors on my home to the outside and two of the four already had the BB knobs.  I love everything about a Baldwin Brass exterior doorknob: the weight of the knob in my hand, the silky smooth feel of the heavy brass when you grasp it to open the door.  I also love the Lifetime finish that really does stay looking beautiful.

Having switched the door knob in the office from a "baseball" door knob to a regular knob, I knew a screw normally held the knob onto the door.  I searched around on the family room floor and under a nearby chair but  I couldn't find one anywhere and decided it must have been vacuumed up at some point.  After inspecting the knob a bit more closely, I realized I didn't have the right kind of screw for the repair.

I called the Baldwin Brass store that's been located here in Metro Atlanta forever to see if they had spare parts for sale.  When I dialed I found the number had been disconnected.  What???  Another one of my fave stores had either closed or moved.   Rats!

After that day, I sort of forgot about the missing screw until a friend came over a couple of weeks later.  We started out onto the porch and, OOPS.   The only thing worse than having a door knob come off in your hand is when it happens in front of someone else.  lol   Admittedly, it's not as bad as a Nancy Grace wardrobe malfunction (Dancing with the Stars) but it's still a bit embarrassing. I hastily explained my door knob dilemma and decided I really had to get this issue fixed once and for all.

The next day I bit the bullet and decided to call a locksmith.  I figured those guys had all the parts in the world to fix a door knob.  I looked up local locksmiths on a website where folks rate companies and I called a company that had a large number of "5 star" reviews.  The company I called had a regular old name like "Bill's Locksmith Service" (not the real name)  so I was confused when someone answered and mumbled something I couldn't understand.  I managed to hear the word "locksmith" though, so I asked, "Is this Bill's Locksmith Service?"  The gruff voice said, "No" and offered no explanation for why the website said one thing and they answered under a completely different name.  Something inside of me said, "Don't do it."  I thanked them and hung up.

On to plan B.  Or, was I on Plan C by now?  Suddenly, it hit me--call the Baldwin Brass manufacturer and see if they would send a screw for the repair.  After spending a good bit of time on their website figuring out the style door knob I had I called their customer service number.  A nice man answered, immediately understood the part I needed, calling it a "set screw" and said he would mail it right out--no charge.  Yay!    This was looking promising.

Friday, an envelope from Baldwin Brass showed up in my mail box and inside I found these.  What strange looking screws--not at all what I was expecting.

I spent all day yesterday at the Country Living Fair in Stone Mountain, Georgia so today was the first chance I've had to work on my door knob repair.  I fetched my trusty Allen wrench from the garage and determined a 1/8 size wrench would be a perfect fit for the Baldwin Brass set screw.  I placed the knob on the door and the tiny screw onto the tip of my Allen wrench and attempted to screw it in.  It wouldn't fit.  :(

The screw appeared to be too big.  I took the knob back off and stared deep into the hole and guess what I discovered?

I discovered the dark thing inside the knob wasn't just a hole.  It was a set screw!  The screw has been there ALL ALONG.  Duhhh. (Insert pic of me slapping myself in the forehead with my hand.)  Now does that black thing with a hole in it look like a screw to you?  Ha!

It only took me about 2 seconds to screw the knob back onto the door once I realized the screw was still there.  Now it works great!  Apparently, over the years it had become a bit loose and just needed to be tightened back up.

During this whole mess metamorphosis, I noticed there was some scarring/scratches on the wood from where the old door knob plate thingy used to be before the Baldwin Brass knob was added 4 years ago.

I got out my handy dandy Minwax Wood Stain markers that I shared in THIS post and had those ugly ole scratches covered up in no time.

Only took me four years to notice they were there. lol  At least it didn't take two months to fix them like it did the door knob.

Can you imagine how foolish I would have felt paying a locksmith a trip charge to just tighten a screw?  So, if you have a loose knob, and you don't see a screw rolling around on the floor, it could be because it's still inside the door knob!  I'm just sayin'. ;)

Have you managed to made any easy repairs, extra hard in your home lately?   Feel free to make me feel better about my door knob repair!

Pssst:  The winner of the $250 HomeGoods Shopping Spree was announced today on the Giveaway post HERE.   A huge thanks to HomeGoods for sponsoring this awesome giveaway!

Looking forward to your Before and Afters for this Met Monday!

Links referenced in this post:
Family Room
Kitchen
Office
Porch
Hiding ugly scratches with Minwax Stain Markers


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