Creative Reuse of a Garage Door

Frame a Compost Pile or Garden

Garage doors can provide the perfect frame for a raised garden or a compost pile. Separate the door into the individual panels to form the walls, and cut one in half to form the back.  Use metal cutting shears if your door is made of aluminum or steel, or a circular saw if the door is wood. Next, dig a small trench to partially bury the panels, then place them standing up to create your frame.

Leave one side open if you are making a compost pile so you can easily roll a wheel barrow in. If you are making a raise garden close off all sides then fill with dirt.
Some garage doors are painted, so be sure to scrape down and sand to remove the paint to keep your garden or compost pile clean.

Create a Green House

Turn your old garage door into a mini green house. There are some limitations to this idea, as a steel or vinyl garage door just is not going to help protect against the cold. But if you have a wood or wood composite garage door this really works great.

If you are somewhat handy you can easily do this with a table and jigsaw, some Plexiglas, and screws. On particularly cold nights you may want to consider adding some hay or straw around your plants for extra protection.

Garage Door Headboard

You might want to check with your significant other or roommate before doing this, and it probably won’t work if it’s a newer garage door that looks mass produced, but consider making a headboard out of your garage door.

Back in the day, before they started using vinyl and steel, garage doors were made of fine quality woods like cherry, chestnut, and mahogany. If you have one of these, sanding it down and placing it as your headboard can be a nice room accent. Not necessarily for everyone, but it just goes to show how a little creativity can go a long way when it comes to reusing our old stuff.

Not everyone has the time or inclination to try and reuse an old garage door themselves. In that case, before you purchase a new door, open your yellow pages or go to Google. Search for whatever town you live in and start calling the companies up and asking them “How do you recycle the doors you replace?” This way you can rest assured that it will be recycled and not end up in a land fill somewhere.

Repurposing the Garage Door

Retire and re-invent an aged outdoor item or architectural element that’s past its prime and give it a stylish new life indoors. This headboard was fashioned from an old garage door. It used to be easy to distinguish an outdoor from an indoor item, but with today’s trends toward recycling and repurposing, that’s no longer the case. ­Elements from outdoors are being ­creatively transformed into ­decorative and functional pieces to achieve a ­charming cottage style look in the home.

Don’t let that distressed door go to the landfill, dust it off and use it for a room divider or ­fashion it into a headboard. An old ladder or a boat oar easily ­transforms into a great place to hang towels in a kitchen or bath. With a little paint, an old metal ceiling tile makes a great magnetic chalkboard. Attach a ­recovered piece of architectural molding to a simple table or shelf for some spruced up style.

The possibilities are limited only by your ­imagination. So, don’t throw it out! Bring it in and sand it, paint it, love it! – Romancing the Home.

Creative Reuses of a Garage Door

GreenBuildingElements.com, is a site dedicated to environmentally friendly building products, projects and designs. In it, the writer Chris Keenan discusses three unique ways to reuse, or upcycle, an old garage door.

When you buy a new garage door the old one is typically taken away and disposed of in a land fill. While some companies will take the old door and try to refurbish and sell it or will recycle the material, others simply toss it. But there are many creative ways you can re-purpose your garage door.

The article shows how three elements of the garage door can be reused. First, the panels are separated to create frames for a garden or compost pile. Next, the glass panels are used to create a mini greenhouse. In another use, a real-wood door in its entirety is used as a headboard for a bed.

To read the article, click here.

Old Garage Doors: What About Recycling?

These days, recycling is understood to be vital for the survival of the planet. 

Old garage doors pose a disposal problem in that they are large and heavy and are made of materials that do not decompose.  Even wooden garage doors are treated and sealed to maintain strength and beauty over many years of use.  Because they take up a significant amount of space in a landfill, individuals who attempt to dispose of old garage doors may face hefty disposal fees.  Many installation companies that offer garage door service now include complimentary removal and recycling of old doors, often free of charge with garage door replacement.  However, a creative homeowner may choose to keep the used doors and get creative with recycling options.

A great way to recycle used garage doors that are no longer wanted is to take them to builder supply re-use stores, such as the Habitat for Humanity Restores.  A donation to a Habitat Restore counts as a charitable donation for tax purposes, keeps the doors out of landfills, helps Habitat for Humanity raise funds with which to build homes, and offers the doors up for a minimal price to persons seeking inexpensive, used garage doors.

Used garage doors can easily be cleaned, painted, and even dressed up with decorative hardware and used on outbuildings like sheds and greenhouses.  The doors can be hung and used just like on a vehicle storage garage, complete with electronic door openers.  They can also be used as walls for building small tool sheds.  Keep in mind that the neighbors may not like the look of a shed made out of mismatched, used garage doors.  A clever paint job should help pretty things up.

Using paint to give an old door an all new look opens up a whole new list of uses for the recycled material.  The doors can also be used whole or in pieces as roofing for out buildings.  A couple sections of an old door can be decorated and used as a roof for a child’s playhouse.  Or, use prettily painted metal door sections to build creative planters for flowers and vegetables.  Using recycled metal garage doors as planters set around the garage entry and to beautify the driveway is a creative use that will impress friends and neighbors.

Many old wooden garage doors have carved sections and decorations.  An attractive old wooden door makes an original and lovely headboard for a bed.  Wooden doors can also be used in sections as unique wainscoting for interior decorating.  Treated and sealed wooden doors can also be cut or separated into sections and used as landscaping materials, or put hinges on them and use them as fence gates.

Before throwing a replaced garage door away or having it hauled off for recycling by the garage door service, consider the many uses around the home and yard that recycled metal and wood can come in handy for.  If nothing else, securing a used door to the back of a garden shed creates a wonderful outdoor canvas for children to paint murals on.  If nothing comes to mind, donating them to charitable resellers of building supplies benefits many people.

Fish House Made of Garage Doors

Minnesota’s lakes are welcoming fish houses to their frozen surfaces. Fish house variety is what makes the structures so unique and appealing, no matter their dimensions. From single person shelters, the size of a large dog house, to mini Taj Mahal look-a-likes, each shanty has its own personality.

A most unique form was built by Terry Bartness, a former Park Rapids School Superintendent who passed away Nov. 4.

Using discarded insulated garage doors to build what would become known as his “fish house condominium.” It even has a birdhouse attached!

Kudos to Terry for Most Creative Use of Discarded Garage Doors, and for being so resourceful!

Source: Jason Durham, Park Rapids Enterprise