fixing worn out door strike mounting

[Stan Calow]

I need to replace a door strike (interior door). The mounting hole in the jamb is so chewed up that there is nothing left to which it can be attached (see pho0). I'm looking for the right way to fix this, short of replacing the whole jamb. My thoughts so far are filling the whole space with wood filler or bondo, and re-drilling, or gluing in a piece of wood as best as possible to provide something to screw into. Any suggestions welcome. I did try googling and searching youtube but didnt find anything that dealt with something like this.

doorstrike.jpg

[Dennis Peacock]

I've used water-thin super glue to make the surrounding wood fibers more "solid" and also used toothpicks and medium super glue to "repair" the screw holes that I was going to use to hold the strike plate. Not as great as all new wood but it worked fine for a very long time.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I had to do a lot of these repairs when I moved into my house 30 years ago.
I'd router out a vertical piece about the size of a dollar bill. At least half inch deep.
Then make a piece and glue it to the remaining 1/4 inch or so.
You then have an unmortised jamb where you can start from scratch.

[Robert Engel]

Replace with wood.

Make it thick enough to abut the 2x4 stud and be a bit proud of jamb, then plane flush.

Wood filler, bondo, etc. will not hold screws well enough.

[Stan Calow]

Thanks guys. I want to do it right and no screw holes left in upper area to try the toothpick trick. Will replace with wood - got plenty of scraps for that.

[Jerome Stanek]

I would see about getting an oversized door strike like they use on commercial doors.

[Bruce Wrenn]

When we do these, we remove the casing on the strike side of jamb. Then figure how big a piece we will need to do repair, and cut it out from 3/4 stock. Using router with rabbiting bit, cut a lip around three sides that will mate with jamb. Next make a template that is the same size as routed lip. Fasten template to jamb, and with a top bearing bit route out waste area, so lip will be slightly proud of existing jamb. This allows sanding flush. Cut out waste that is inside lip of repair piece will go, then glue and brad nail repair into jamb. Sand and fill any openings, then reset strike. You may need to shim jamb to keep it from flexing when doing this. Use screws, instead of nails. Reattach strike side casing, fill any holes and paint.

[Rich Engelhardt]

One of these - Harbor Freight Multi-Tool makes it a snap to cut out the old section and fit a new piece. (Use plywood for the patch & the screws hold like crazy - if it's going to be painted or if appearance isn't as important as function.)
A scrap of hardwood - close to the original in appearance works where a natural finish is desired.