I have a closet door that has two standard door type hinges on it. The screws holding the lower hinge have stripped out of the jam completely. As in I can push them all the way in with my fingers and them pull them all the way out with my fingers, no screwing required.
I know there must be some way to repair this, but I do not want to replace the jam. Is there some material that I could pack the hole with and then redrill it?
Does anybody make heli-coils for wood? 
Suggestions?
Doors are ‘shimmed’ into place, meaning that there is as much as a 3/4 gap between the door frame and the actual framing members of the house/structure.
You can get really long screws that will bridge this gap, so that you are driving the screws into the actual stud that forms that opening for the door and jamb, or you can:
Wedge wood slivers (tooth picks) into the holes to provide some amazingly effective bite for the screws (throw some wood glue in with them and let it dry for a bonus hold).
OR…
Get an epoxy/resin type wood repair product from the home center or hardware store to fill the holes. This stuff will be stronger than the wood itself.
Drill out the holes in some over-size, like perhaps 3/4 inch. Fill holes with glued-in hardwood dowel of same size. When glue is dry, re-drill pilot holes for screws. This is the professional way of repairing reamed-out screw holes.
Borrow from a woodworking friend (or even buy, though it will be expensive) a quality drill bit, like a Forstner bit. Twist bits and spade bits will often tear up your frame wood so much that getting a good fit for the dowel is impossible.
This sounds like a capitol idea. Thanks.
And just so you can sound official that type of repair with wood replacement is called a Dutchman.
If you are an ok woodworker with basic skills, or typical homeowner, go for the long screws, filler suggestion.
If you are a pretty good carpenter, you can go for the Dutchman.
I can handle a Forstner bit and I can buy a wood dowel. This does not sound that hard to repair. Drill, measure the depth, cut the dowel, apply glue, and tap into place.
After it is dry, re-drill using the hinge as a template.
Sounds pretty simple from here. Or am I missing something?
I’ll just add that the new polyureathane glues (Gorilla, etc) are awsome for this sort of job.
Yes. Though the “dutchman” idea may be better here.
I’ve had excellant results with this Veritas tool: http://www.veritastools.com/Products/Page.aspx?p=152
Works really well. The dowel sections are pencil diameter and are tapered with a regular pencil sharpener. The dowels are predrilled with pilot holes, so if they aren’t going to line up exactly, I just use regular dowels. The tapered bit is included of course.
Ah, spoken like a true non-Yankee.
We Yanks take the cheaper approach, and don’t even want to drive to the store to buy the dowels. 
The heli-coil comment was just making fun, I really wasn’t serious.
GaryM If I could find the Veritas locally, I might go for it. The dowels and the bit I can get at my local home despot.
So Philster how would a true Yankee do this repair?
I’ve done the toothpick trick a few times, it has worked fine. Then again, when I moved out of Philadelphia, I “repaired” some damaged moulding with white toothpaste. I got my security deposit back, but the second anyone slammed a door in the apartment. . .
A true Yankee would use what he has laying around. Grab some toothpicks or scrap wood, maybe some wood glue and just improvise. Based on the OP’s remarks, I wouldn’t think they’d have the dowels or the bits needed.
Understood. But this is my house, and I want a very permanent repair. It is worth a trip to the Home Despot.
No, you’re not missing anything. It is hard to gauge skill level from a message board.
Rick, I think you should do it right, if you want it to be permanent. It’s quick, cheap, and long lasting. Toothpicks and glue are workable for a temporary repair on somebody else’s property. Long screws will hold for a while, but they are only structural at the pointy end where they reach the inner frame. The rest of the screw is floating freely in the reamed out screw hole. The hinge will slip out of alignment, and worst case, the screw will snap from the uneven torque. Then you’ve got a real problem, since the screw hole needed to keep the hinge aligned will be occupied by a chunk of metal.
Ahh Phil - Us yanks must stick together. I’d shim it up, [if necessary - I’ve got old shinghles floating around] and or throw a 4.5 inch porch screw into the hole, maybe if I’m really lucky I’d stick some gorilla wood glue in there first just to make sure, and then have at it. No worries!
Closet door? IMHO, ‘‘no’’, but without getting into psychological profiling, you need to get into a car, go to the store and get the dowels – and bits, if needed – to do the job the way another doper recommended! Why? Because that will make you sleep well at night.
Phlosphr and I would take a different approach, but it doesn’t make one wrong and one right. Again, we aren’t discussing the proper way to carry the second floor load here. We’re replacing some closet door screws! 
Enjoy your home repair!
I second the toothpick trick and I’ve been building and hanging doors professionally for many years. Fill the hole with enough toothpicks or wood splinters and wood glue, let dry overnight and the screws will hold well. The problem with using dowels is screws don’t hold all that well in end grain which is what you’d be driving them into.