I'm in the middle of installing a ceiling fan and hit a snag. I managed to get the ceiling bracket secured, but when tightening the screws into the outlet box, the head of one screw broke off! Now I'm stuck trying to figure out how to extract it without damaging anything. Does anyone have tips or tricks for getting that stubborn screw out? I even included an image of the situation. Thanks!
2 Answers
Or you could just use pliers to grasp the part of the screw that’s sticking out and try unscrewing it directly. It might be easier than you think!
You can actually do a couple of things. If there's enough of the screw left sticking out, try filing flat sides on it. Once you've got that, grab some vice grips and twist it out. Sometimes just a little grip goes a long way!
I've been struggling with just pliers and it feels like it's taking forever. I think I'm heading to the hardware store for a file.
Great tip! I might skip the filing if I can just get a good grip on it with the vice grips.