Can you sell old garage doors? Yes, you can sell old garage doors to metal recycling companies if it is made of aluminum or steel. If you have time to wait, another option you could try is talking with contractors or people that you know who buy, fix-up and resell homes.
Garage door panels can be very heavy depending on the width of door opening. Some garage doors on homes with older garages only have a single panel that the motor pulls up instead of 4 or 5 door panels.
Before you bring your old garage door in to your local scrap recycling yard you need to figure out what type of metal it is made out of. Metal recycling companies will not accept plastic or vinyl garage doors.
If you know that the door panels are made of metal but you’re not sure if they are made of steel or aluminum use a magnet to test the metal. If the magnet sticks, the door is steel.
Insulated vs. Uninsulated
Insulated garage door panels will feel heavy but it is not due to them being a solid piece of steel or aluminum. These types of panels are filled with a foam material that insulates the panel just like the inside of the wall in your home.
Many new scrappers often assume that they have 400 to 700 pounds of old aluminum garage door panels not realizing that the panels are filled with insulation. Metal recycling companies will still accept insulated panels as is or with the foam removed.
Old garage doors without insulation generally look like metal frames on the back side of them although some of the more modern doors use closed hollow panels. The insulated garage door panel may be heavier but the panel with no insulation will make you more money at the scrap metal recycling yard.
The difference is clean metal vs. mixed metal. The insulated panel is not considered clean just like a piece of copper wire with the plastic still on it is not considered clean.
I always try to share these little things that can make a difference for you while you’re out there everyday. Scrapping metal is more than a hobby for many of us so its good to understand a bit about how metal recycling companies work.