My dinette light fixture fell down

[rvshrinker]

And now I can't get it to stay up.

It has the Robertson screw heads. I tightened them both, but it seems one is stripped (probably why it fell down. I hadn't touched them in the almost three prior years since I bought it). Since it is set rather deep into the ceiling, I can't really see what I'm doing back there. Any suggestions on how to get that screw to stay put?

[DrewE]

Some sort of a hollow wall anchor or molly bolt might be a good option, assuming the structure of whatever you're trying to attach to is solid and the hole is merely stripped out.

[opnspaces]

rvshrinker wrote:
All of these are helpful. The problem is the screw actually bites into something I cannot see. The dinette ceiling is a layer of something like reinforced foam board. And then the screw passes into something presumably a wooden slat where the stripping might have happened. But none of that is visible.

The Teflon tape didn't work. It's a little uncomfortable enlarging and drilling into something I cannot see. An alternative would be a shorter screw, with an anchor installed in the ceiling itself.

Then your best chance is probably to do as Bobbo sugests.

Bobbo wrote:
One size larger screw, or, if it is screwing into wood, coat a couple of old style kitchen match sticks with white glue and shove them in the hole. Then coat the screw with white glue and put it back in. Be careful not to strip it, just snug, and let the glue dry.

Except I would do slightly different. Take a couple of toothpicks and break them so they are a tiny bit shorter than the screw threads. Then using wood glue or white glue or any glue you have, coat the toothpicks and shove them into the hole. Use a small piece of tape to hold the toothpicks up in the hole until the glue dries. Then carefully reinstall the fixture.

[rvshrinker]

All of these are helpful. The problem is the screw actually bites into something I cannot see. The dinette ceiling is a layer of something like reinforced foam board. And then the screw passes into something presumably a wooden slat where the stripping might have happened. But none of that is visible.

The Teflon tape didn't work. It's a little uncomfortable enlarging and drilling into something I cannot see. An alternative would be a shorter screw, with an anchor installed in the ceiling itself.

[Lynnmor]

Can you rotate the fixture and drill new holes?

[mobeewan]

When repairing stripped holes in solid wood the strongest and most permanent repair is to enlarge the hole using a drill bit sized to match a wooden dowel larger than the existing hole. Cut a piece of the dowel to fit in the hole or insert the dowel into the hole as deep as possible, then cut off the dowel. Use wood glue on the dowel prior to inserting it into the hole. Then redrill the hole the proper size for the screw after the glue sets.

I have accumulated several sizes of wooden dowels for repairing holes in wood and for other uses.

[Bobbo]

One size larger screw, or, if it is screwing into wood, coat a couple of old style kitchen match sticks with white glue and shove them in the hole. Then coat the screw with white glue and put it back in. Be careful not to strip it, just snug, and let the glue dry.

[jdc1]

Wrap some teflon tape around the screw, or use one size larger screw.