Replacing a heel is easy!

Elegant · 17th February 2007, 16:16

Several months ago I bought the Essence ankle boots with 3.5" spikes I described in the guys' forum. During the New Year's Eve it turned out that they were poorly made though. The heels were fastened with some glue, a screw that was 20mm (0.8") long and 3mm (0.12") thick, and four nails that were of the same length (or even shorter!) and 1mm (0.04") in diameter. No wonder why the heel came off... For one and a half month these boots lied in the closet (heh, heh) and they're about to come out. I din't refasten the original heel, but bought a pair of new, chunkier ones with heeltips, and two D- shaped metal washers with a hole for a screw. Their purpose is to 1) prevent the "main" fastening screw from damaging the insole, and 2) make the force used to hold the heel and sole togeather spread over a larger area.

My small guide to replacing a heel:

1) Before you go to the shop with shoe parts (like soles, heels, heeltips etc.), take one heel away from your shoe/ boot and remove all nails and screws. This will allow you to try matching the shoe with various heels and decide which one suits you best and will be technically possible to fix on your shoe. Make sure the heel (and the whole shoe) is well-balanced!

2) You should buy a pair of heels, heeltips, and the D-shaped washers I mentioned before, as well as four thinner (3mm) and two thicker (4mm) self-tapping wood screws. I'm using Spax and they're OK, I guess. Remember that sometimes the heel is so rigid that you'll have to make small holes in it in order to guide the screws.
3) If the insole is rigid (wooden etc.), you may have to make the existing holes (previously occupied by nails and screws) bigger. Then, place the heel EXACTLY in the position in which it's gonna stay, and either screw the insole and the heel together, or (if it "won't go" because the heel is too tough) use an icepick to mark the locations where the screws are going to enter the heel, and drill small (i.e. 1mm in diameter) holes there. Now you'll be able to screw things together and correct if something goes wrong.
4) Time to use the final, thicker screw with a D-shaped washer. It'll be the main measure of fixing the heel (the two other screws are just auxiliary, to prevent the heel from moving around). Then glue the insert together with the insole and it's ready!

If everything goes OK, you'll be able to please your eyes, ears and feet with shoes/ boots you modified yourself!

Dr. Shoe · 17th February 2007, 18:17

I have to say that DIY heel replacement is something that can be dangerous and HHPlace does not encourage this practice.

Elegant · 17th February 2007, 21:19

OK, I see your point. I guess it's all about proper fastening and balancing, so that a heel, especially stilletto, won't fall off, the wearer won't fall down, and the shoes will be comfortable.

I hope my repair will be successful though :). I saw Firefox', Highluc's and Joak's websites, and I decided to replace the heels myself using the advice the shopkeeper gave me.