Was I the Last to Know?

In my furniture rehabbing adventures, I've often had one sticky problem that is now solved. Just in case I'm not the last to know about this, here's a quick and easy solution to handle bolts that are too long.

Often, the original hardware isn't the right look for all our fabulous makeovers. We want shinier, darker, bolder, smaller...just different handles than what we're working with. This was the case with my recent dresser transformation. I liked the longer pulls just fine (after spray painting them a shiny silver), but the four single knobs weren't anything special.

Before

After

I bought some new little knobs and when I put them in, the screws were too long.

2 pliers, a nut, and a too long handle bolt for a new knob

Usually I put a washer behind it and call it good, but a recent trip to my local Ace hardware store gave me the solution. One of the workers gave me this tip: when a screw is cut down, the threads get messed up and make the whole thing useless. The trick is to screw a nut onto the screw before cutting it.

The trickiest part of this whole thing might be finding a nut that fits

Go ahead and cut the bolt down; I used my pliers and a whole lot of hand strength. Maybe bolt cutters would've been easier...but the pliers were handy.

Now just go ahead and unscrew the nut from the bolt. This realigns the threads, the knob screws in just fine and voila! the new knob now fits perfectly in the dresser!

Hopefully this helps someone else in their furniture rehabbing projects.