Cant remove screws! AAARRRRGGHH!!

gazza975526570

Im trying to dismantle some built in wardobes the previous owner built themselves.

There is a franme running around the floor, ceiling and two walls and they are in place with really long and thick screws. Most ive been able to remove but some i just cant budge and i really dont know what else to do to remove them.

Ive tried chiselling into the wood to create some room for the screw to move with no job, tried to saw through the wood.

Any suggestions before i lose my mind?!

googler

Remove the wood from around the screw with a chisel, drill or similar power tool until you can remove the frame without removing the screw.

Once the frame is away, get a wrench, big pair of pliers, or mole grip onto the screw and use that to turn it.

Failing that, once the frame is away, use an angle grinder to take off the exposed portion, leaving the remainder of the thread in the wall

ormus

tightening the screw first, sometimes helps to break the bond.
also hammering on the end of the screwdriver whilst turning, can help shift tight screws.

keystone

If you are not preserving the furniture one of these:



comes in handy.

Cheers

CaptainKidd

Is the head of the screw still ok? If so how about a bigger screwdriver that you can get more purchase on or if you have chipped the wood away then just get the claw hammer onto it. Another option if it is possible is to just hammer the screw right through the wood if theres room for it too do so.

Johnhowell

I once had a difficult screw to remove and tried to drill it out. I had set the direction on the drill as counterclockwise and it actually unscrewed the screw ;-)

gazza975526570

Thanks all - finally managed to get the thing down - and used pretty much every suggestion

Went through the wood either side of the screw with a jigsaw and chiseled away at the gaps - this brought the frame off - then hammered the screw and using the biggest screwdriver i had finally managed to unscrew them all

Ready for a beer now!!

Thanks again

keystone

Well done - brute force and ignorance usually prevails!

Cheers