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Many handyman tips I have learned out of necessity. You get stuck and you have to figure a way out. A rounded bolt head is no exception. Someone else may have chewed up the flat sides and now it is a big round mess. The first thing I did was grab the biggest water pump pliers I had and squeezed and turned. Leverage is a wonderful thing…sometimes it works and sometimes it will twist the head of the bolt right off.
Assuming the bolt head is still attached, you can make opposing flat sides that will allow you to place a wrench on it. Use a grinder or a file and grind away enough material to make 2 flat opposing sides. Then place a wrench on it and turn out the bolt.
While you have the grinder out, you can try cutting a slot down the middle of the bolt’s head. When you have the slot cut, you can insert a screwdriver into the slot and remove the bolt. Although conceptually this works, you will probably find that you can’t get enough torque from the screwdriver to remove the bolt. So try using a screwdriver with a square shaft and while putting your weight down upon the bolt head, place a wrench on the square shaft of the screwdriver to turn it. In this way, you have a lot of force on the bolt while attempting to unscrew it.
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