What can I use to fill a gap between a door frame and the wall, at the location where the strike plate screws will be anchored?
I recently installed a new external door frame where the wall ended up being pretty out of whack (the house is over 100 years old). The top of the door frame sits right on the wall, but the bottom required some shimming, as did points in-between. During this installation I failed to think about securing the locking hardware and, indeed, there is a decent gap (maybe 1/2") between the frame and the wall where the security screws are going in.
I'm not keen on this. I don't like that the screws are floating out in space for such a gap. I'd like to fill the gap with something that will (1) give the screws something more to bite and (2) stick to the frame and wall so it does actually provide additional security.
I thought about taking the trim off (of course, I installed the trim already – sigh) and wedging a new shim in, with construction adhesive on it to secure. But is there something I could just squirt in there that will set up and adhere to the adjoining pieces, and will take a screw when set up?
Best Answer
You could put some shims/wood filler/bondo in there, but it's 90% cosmetic. (The remaining 10% is that it would resist an attack with a prybar, but realistically, if someone is coming at your door with a prybar, you're doomed.)
The screws (assuming they're long enough to bite solidly into the framing), will do what they're supposed to do with or without filler.