…well, maybe “masonry” isn’t an accurate word, but it will do for the moment.
We’ve been in our apartment for about sixteen years. Shortly after we moved in, we went to Home Depot and bought a security door (like a screen door, but a lot sturdier, and with a lock and sometimes a deadbolt). The door came with several lag screws with one way heads. That is, the heads looked like this.
I managed to get them installed, and over the past decade or more, the door has stayed installed with no problem. It has rusted some, though, over the years, and now we’d like to look into getting another security door. But when I do, how am I supposed to remove those screws?
Looks to me from your picture that a flat head screwdriver would work. If it’s the security type head that can’t be unscrewed, you’ll likely have to cut the heads off, or use an Easy-Out tool similar to these (my recommendation). Just drill a hole through the head and into the center of the bolt. Use an appropriately sized bolt extractor, insert into the drilled hole and back the bolt out with a wrench. There are YouTube vids that show how to do it.
ETA: or what Capt Kirk said, which is much less work.
The easiest way to go is to grind the heads off with a 4" angle grinder, remove the door and frame, then use a pair of ViseGrip pliers to remove the remainder of the bolt. (then I saw your post about not having any power tools.:smack:)
There is however one other option, not mentioned yet.
Take a hacksaw and deepen the notch where the screwdriver blade would set and try that.
You don’t have to use the notch to get the screw all the way out, just enough to get a vise grip on the head. Once you can grab it, assuming there is enough room to maneuver, you can then use the vise grip to spin the screw out.
If you didn’t already buy that…for $60 you’ll be much happier with an angle grinder. It’ll take the heads off the screws and give you many more years of enjoyment. They’re also ungodly loud, so it won’t hurt to pick up a set of ear muffs and some eye protection while you’re there.
Of course, the screw shank will still be in the masonry so you may first want to make sure the new hinges won’t exactly line up with the old ones or you’ll really be in trouble.
The other option is (as I’m sure other people have mentioned) is to cut another slot in the other direction and use a regular screwdriver. A thin enough disk on an angle driver may be able to do that, but these can be a bit unwieldy the first time you take them out for a spin.
Seriously. Even if you’re not handy with tools, I strongly recommend buying a small canvas tool bag and filling it with the essentials for any minor home project: a decent set of philips and straight blade screwdrivers (or one of those kits that has every kind of screw/bolthead driver imaginable), medium visegrips, two pair of tongue & groove pliers, a pair of straight slip joint pliers, a pair of needle nose pliers, a pair of diagonal cutters, a hammer, a small set of sockets with a 3/8" drive, a box cutter, and a mini Maglite. And for crying out loud, get yourself a good battery powered drill and a set of bits (Makita and DeWalt are good options). You can most likely get all of this for under $200. Less, if you frequent garage sales.
I don’t mean to pile on and I’m an idiot for missing that especially since it was right before my post, but yes, installing a door is pretty serious stuff. Generally I’d think someone even capable of that would have a few tools.
But vise grips do come in very handy and it might be worth looking at the auto-sizing/locking variety such as these. Personally I still use the old fashion kind since for something like this I think you need to really clamp down and deform the screw head to get a good grip and that’s not something the auto’s seem to do very well. But for a lag bolt, I’m guessing that once you get it started, getting it out won’t be that much of a struggle. Can’t say I have much experience with them.
6" AND NO LARGER Needle-nose vise-grips are cheaper than a handyman.
For more money, a SMALL angle grinder with a cut-off blade will cut the frame above and below the screw. With a grinding blade, it will take off the head.
When you remove the stub of frame, you will have a nice long chunk of lag bolt to grab with pliers (or vise-grip).
I used the 6" needle-nose Vise-Grip ™ on the bars on the windows and doors of this house. On the plus side, the rust had eaten the wood away from the screws - they came out quite nicely. I’m guessing these were installed in the 80’s - the last time any money was spent on the place. Don’t know how long it took the rust to eat the wood.
When you put up the new one, don’t use cheap-ass HD hardware - find stainless or at least decently-plated cad plate. Not available in any HD I’ve seen.
Had you used decent hardware the first time, you wouldn’t be looking at this problem, would you?
I wonder if a sharp chisel might also work if you need to go low-tech/brute force [imitates Tim Allen on Tool Time]
Also, I wanted to ask about using an oscillating tool as an alternative to an angle grinder. I’ve heard the latter can be dangerous, especially if the blade shatters. I see that they have a guard but the wiki entry still cautions not using it without protective gear - although that’s always a good idea of course. I assume oscillating tools have blades that can handle metal and look like they would let you do more precise cutting.
Chisels are designed to cut wood. Try them on metal lag screws and chips of metel are going to go flying, probably end up severing your carotid artery and you bleed to death.
Angle grinders are fairly easy to control. The circular disk spins and you very gently touch the edge to the surface you want to cut. If you can safely handle an electric toothbrush, you can probably handle a grinder.
