Cast Iron From a Renovation: Salvage It or Weigh It?

Cast iron from a renovation is worth very little as scrap and sometimes a great deal as an object. A clawfoot bath weighing 250 to 400 pounds fetches roughly $23 to $36 at counter rates, while an intact period bath sells through architectural salvage for many times that. The test is not what it weighs. It is whether it is complete, identifiable and in demand, and if it is, the scrap yard is the wrong destination.

Scrap Price Today market analysis, written from exchange settlement data, mill and refiner pricing practice and published policy documents. Figures are examples; today's numbers are on the live scrap price board.

This is the opposite of the usual advice on this site, and it applies to a narrow but valuable set of items.

Three questions that decide salvage or scrap

Is it complete and intact? Salvage buyers want whole items with their fittings, feet and detail. A cracked bath or a radiator with a snapped section is scrap. A complete one with its original feet is a product.

Can it be identified? Maker's marks, foundry names and dates transform an item from generic ironwork into something a buyer can research and price. Look on the underside of baths, the end sections of radiators and the back plate of fireplaces.

Is there demand for that specific form? This is where salvage pricing gets counterintuitive. Short radiators that fit under a window are scarcer than tall ones and price higher, because the supply of period stock does not match what modern rooms need.

If all three answers are yes, phone an architectural salvage dealer before you phone a yard. If any is no, weigh it and move on.

What it actually weighs and pays

A new cast iron clawfoot bath retails for over $2,000. A salvaged original in sound condition sits somewhere between the scrap figure above and that, depending entirely on condition and maker. The gap is large enough that half an hour of research beats the drive to the yard.

A gap in our own numbers, stated plainly

The two price columns above are not the same thing, and the difference matters more on ferrous than on any other metal.

Our ferrous board is derived from a national producer price index anchored to published export cargo prices, which makes it a wholesale reference. Published retail counter quotes for small cast iron loads run $0.06 to $0.12 a pound, with $0.09 typical, against our board equivalent of $0.144.

So a household seller bringing a bath and a radiator should expect roughly 60 to 65 percent of our ferrous board, not the board itself. The reason is fixed handling cost: processing a small ferrous load costs a yard nearly as much as a large one, and there is very little value per pound to absorb it.

That gap is much narrower on non-ferrous, where the value per pound is high enough that handling is a smaller share. We would rather publish the discrepancy than let anyone drive to a yard expecting the index price. The derivation of the board is on our editorial policy page.

The non-ferrous in the same renovation

While the cast iron argument is about salvage, the rest of a period property is straightforward scrap and worth far more per pound.

• Copper guttering and downpipes: about $5.78 a pound, so 30 pounds is roughly $173.
• Copper roof sheet and flashing: 60 pounds is roughly $347.
• Brass door hardware, taps and valves: about $3.52 a pound, so 8 pounds is roughly $28.
• Lead flashing: covered separately in our scrap lead guide, and handled with gloves.

One pound of copper is worth about 40 pounds of cast iron on our board. On a strip-out, that ratio should decide where you spend your time entirely.

Brass and copper period hardware also has a salvage market of its own. Original rim locks, escutcheons and taps sell for more intact than melted, and they take up almost no space to store while you find out.

Preparing cast iron for a yard, if that is the answer

• Drain radiators completely. Water is weight you will be deducted for, and it makes them dangerous to lift.
• Remove brass and copper fittings, valves and taps first. They are separate grades worth many times the iron.
• Take the feet off a bath if they unbolt; they are often the most saleable part on the salvage market.
• Porcelain and enamel coating does not materially affect the scrap value, so do not spend time removing it.
• Break large items only if you must to move them, and never with a load of people standing nearby. Cast iron shatters rather than bends.
• Keep cast iron separate from light steel; it is a distinct grade at most yards.

When salvage is not worth pursuing

Be realistic. Salvage dealers buy what they can sell, and the market is narrower than enthusiasm suggests.

Mass-produced mid-century radiators, plain steel baths, modern gates and anything cracked, heavily rusted or missing parts will not find a buyer. Nor will items that cannot be moved without damage. In those cases the weight is the value, and the numbers in the table above are what you should expect.

The honest test from one contractor forum still works: if you leave it outside and nobody takes it, it does not have meaningful scrap value either.

What this metal pays around the world

Scrap is a global market priced in US dollars, but what reaches a seller depends on trade position, freight to the nearest consumer and how many buyers compete locally. The table below converts the same grade into each market’s own currency and units at the day’s exchange rate, and shows the factor we apply.

Method

Weights are typical ranges for period residential items and vary widely by size and pattern. Weigh or estimate your own before deciding anything.

The reference column uses our own cast iron board, documented on the editorial policy page with live figures on the board. The counter column uses published yard and buyer quotes collected across several listings, which is why it is a range and why it sits below our index.

Salvage values are deliberately not quoted as figures. They depend on maker, pattern, condition and local demand to a degree that any number we published would mislead. Get two quotes from architectural salvage dealers instead; that is the only reliable price discovery for these items.

We do not buy scrap or salvage and take no referral fees.