How To Remove Buried In Wood Screws With Ease

Wood screws that are buried too deep can become stuck, making them difficult to remove without damaging the surrounding wood. This often happens when the screw head is recessed below the surface or covered by filler, but sometimes there's just not enough tension present for the screwdriver to work effectively. If you've tried every trick you know to get the screw out and it's still lodged in there, the frustration can seem overwhelming. Take a deep breath, though, because there are solutions for stuck screws; one in particular is so simple, you might wonder how you hadn't already thought of it.

All you need is an electric screwdriver to insert another screw into the board where the existing one is stuck. Driving a second screw through a board helps in circumstances where a screw is stuck in a small board, such as a 2-by-4. Though this method is not guaranteed to work every single time, it's good to know why it works and how to do it. Once you grasp it, you might wish you hadn't wasted any time and energy trying lesser methods.

For this method, simply insert a screw within a couple of inches of the stuck screw using an electric screwdriver. Be sure that the screw you drive into the board is long enough to go all the way through and into the structure behind it, and don't drive it so far that it also gets stuck; leave the head sticking out just a bit. After the second screw has been secured in the wood, use the electric screwdriver to remove the original screw before removing the second screw and patching up both holes with wood filler or putty. 

This hack works by securing the board with the stuck screw firmly to the wood surface behind it, allowing the screwdriver enough tension to remove the original screw effectively. This technique can be used any time you have a screw that's stuck into a relatively small board — just find a sturdy wooden structure to secure it to. If the screw is becoming stripped, try a rubber band placed over a manual screwdriver to get it out. For a screw that's stuck inside a larger piece of wood, you can try using a heated metal rod or spraying lubricant around the screw's head to help remove it. Of course, if all else fails, screw extractors often work well.