Easy Way to Fix a Hole in Wood (with toothpicks)

How to fix a hole in wood the easy way using toothpicks and wood glue.

When we bought our house in 2013 it was a foreclosure.

We got it for a great price but it was stripped of almost everything, including the big things like the hot water heater and the bathroom vanity. It also was missing a lot of the little things, like the door stoppers for all the doors.

The first time we opened a closet door too quickly and almost went through the wall, I knew that I needed to install door stoppers, pronto! Otherwise I'd be adding "fix holes in the walls" to my ever-growing list.

The holes were already in the wood trim so I picked up several door stoppers from Home Depot, figuring it would be an easy fix. Well, it wasn't that easy.

The holes were too big for the new stoppers so, instead of drilling new holes and fixing the old, I filled the holes with glue and toothpicks so that the door stopper had something to "grab" onto.

Supplies to fix a whole in wood

• wooden toothpicks
• wood glue
• scissors or nippers
• hammer

First you want to put some glue into the hole and start sticking toothpicks in until they are snug and you can't fit any more.

Either break off or cut the toothpicks sticking out of the hole with scissors or nippers (it should be flush with the molding).

Take a hammer and gently tap the toothpicks into the hole just to make sure they are snug.

Twist your door stop into the hole and...voila!!!

The screw of the door stopper grabs onto the wood of the toothpicks.

Let it dry and you have a new door stopper in a big ol' hole.

Have you used this toothpick trick before?

Check out the projects where we've used this trick

• Replacing Old Door Knobs and Hinges
• Old Door Knob Replacement for Closet Doors