How to unscrew a bust screw?

[shelldockley]

How do you undo a screw when the thread has gone? We have this toilet roll holder and it has never sat straight! I want to get it off the tiled wall and replace it, but the thread on the screw (one screw underneath) is bust and so we can't get it off. Any ideas?

Do you mean the head is stripped so there's nothing for a screwdriver to slot into and hold the screw with? If so, you can use a junior hacksaw to saw a slot in, but depending on the position doing that might damage the toilet roll holder. Or you can drill into it with a small drill bit and use the drill bit to get purchase, but tricky to do with a small screw and I'm guessing it's underneath.

If you can move the thing away from the wall enough (risks making large holes in the wall) you may be able to get a hacksaw blade in to cut off the screw head. That would be a right palaver though.

Are you sure it is a screw holding it in place? We have a toilet roll holder with invisible (hidden) fixings and although it slots onto screws in the wall, it is held in place via a small screw which needs a tiny Allen key to tighten or loosen it.

Lay an elastic band over the screw head and try to unscrew it through the elastic band IYKWIM.

Yes there is nothing for the screwdriver to hold onto. I don't have a hacksaw, but I could try the drill trick. It is really so flimsy and fiddly.

I'm doubting myself now whether it's a screw or an allen key fitting (I'm at work) but I'm pretty sure it's a screw. DH was the last one to try it and he said the screw was bust, but maybe he was being dim!

OOh the elastic band trick sounds good!

Is any of the screw sticking out so you can grab it and plier it out?

No it's not sticking out at all, completely flush.

if it is the sort of fitting where you screw a bracket to the wall, the slide the fitting onto it and tighten a grubscrew, it probably needs an allen key or splined drive. Rarely a very small screwdriver. A drill or screwdriver will damage it. If the screwhead is not such that the screw is pointing into the wall, it must be a grubscrew.

If it actually the screws into the wall that are loose, you can probably wiggle and pull the fitting out. Get some new, longer screws and some brown plasplugs. Clean out the hole and verify it is deep enough. If the plasplugs are not a tight fit, squeeze some no-more-nails or own brand equivalent deep into the hole, push in the plasplugs, and leave overnight to harden.

Plugs and screws supplied with fittings are usually too small. Plasplugs should be tapped in so the dead is below the level of the plaster.

Thought I replied earlier but computer crashed Thanks PigletJohn, it's definitely a screw, a small slotted head one. If I manage to get it out is it worth sticking with this toilet roll holder (with new fittings) or will it always end up wonky in your experience?

And yes it is the sort with a small bracket screwed to the wall, with this fitting over it with a little screw underneath. It could be the whole bracket that is loose I suppose.

I expect it is the screws for the wall bracket that are loose. But you will have to undo the grubscrew to find out.

p.s.

that sort of holder, which is a long lever attached to a single point, is not sound design. It will work like a door handle, and leverage will loosen the fixing. A holder fixed to the wall at both ends will be much stronger. A holder with a fixing in the middle will not be as bad.

I was going to suggest the elastic band trick too.

That's what I thought PigletJohn, it's a bad design, but I can't understand why they sell so many of them if they don't work! We'll prob find another bigger type that will cover the holes in the tiles when we take this one off.

one born every minute?

And repeat sales when they come loose and the punters buy a replacement.

others are available