The skinny on .... Screws!

Image via Wikipedia Just when I thought I was making progress on the bathroom final touches, our closet door fell off ...yes, just fell off the wall!

The screws used to fix most of these doors are so short (1/2 inch) they don't go far enough into the wood to hold for the long haul; this house is now 17 years old, so things happen.
Fortunately, it was an easy fix, and if you know a few basic things, you can fix yours too.

Screws come in a huge variety of sizes,
shapes, lengths purposes and uses.

When you have a need, first you need to answer a few questions.
For my door issue, here is what I needed to know, and the answers:
What was I screwing into? In this case, wood.
How long of a screw would I need? I just compare what I take our of the door, and in this case, I knew I needed a longer screw to hold better and get past where they stripped from the existing place; Mine were 1/2 inch, so I went with 1 inch (and later went back to 1.5 inches!)
What type of screw head did I need?  For hinges, you need flat heads on the screws. Just picture two rounded screws trying to flatten against each other, and you can picture a door that will not shut.
Then: Phillips (X on the top) or flat (straight line): I go with phillips.
Head size: the diameter is noted by number: the ones I had were an 8; what I do is just compare what one I take in to the one I want, and try to get a close match. 

SO! I need #8 1.5 inch wood screws, flat head, phillips.

Now it's time to go to the store!  Don't be intimidated: hardware stores are marked just like grocery stores; you want the "hardware" aisle, then the "screws" section, then the "wood screw" section.
See? Piece of cake.
If all else fails, ask someone.   Say "I have this screw for a hinge repair I'm doing, and I need more, but longer".  You'll be surprised how willing people are to help!

Falling off!?????!!!!

....to a perfectly (and better than original) working door.

Just get in there and DIYM! (Do it Yourself MOM!) You can!