Deck Demolition and Removal

Decks fail where you cannot see them. Water runs off the boards, soaks into the joist tops, and sits in the notches around the posts. Years later the surface still looks tired but sound, and then a foot goes through a board near the stairs, or a railing post moves when someone leans on it. The boards were never the real problem.

AMI Junk Hauling takes the whole structure out — decking, framing, railings, stairs, and the footings if you want them gone — and hauls the debris away in the same visit. What you are left with is open ground, not a pile of gray lumber stacked against the garage.

Send photos from a few steps back so the whole deck and the ground under it are visible, plus the path to the street. Or call and describe it: (888) 371-8120. The estimate is free and comes back in writing.

Why people tear out a deck

• Soft boards and springy spots that mean the joists underneath have gone.
• A railing that moves when you push on it, on a deck four feet off the ground.
• A rebuild, where the old structure has to be clear before the new footings go in.
• A home inspection that flagged the ledger connection during a sale.
• A deck that is simply in the wrong place now — the plan is a patio, a pool, or lawn.
• Storm damage, or a tree that came down across one corner.

The part attached to the house

Most of a deck teardown is straightforward: the surface comes off, the frame comes apart, the debris goes on the truck. The part that takes care is the ledger — the board bolted to the house that carries one whole side of the structure. Pulling it opens the siding and whatever is behind it, and on older decks that flashing was thin or missing, which is often why the rim joist behind it is soft in the first place.

That is a real decision, not a detail. The ledger can stay in place if a new deck is going back in the same spot, or come out with the siding cut back so the wall can be inspected and closed up properly. What we do not do is rip it off and leave an open wall for the weather. Say which way you are going before the crew is scheduled, because it changes the sequence and the number.

How it works

1. Send photos. The whole deck from a distance, the underside if you can reach it, the stairs, where it meets the house, and the route to the street.
2. Get a number in writing. The figure covers square footage, height, decking material, whether footings come out, and the carry distance. Same-day quote in most cases.
3. Decide about the ledger and the footings. Staying or going, both of them. This is the choice that most changes the job.
4. Pick a window. Clear the deck and anything stored under it, and point out sprinkler lines, gas runs, and low-voltage wiring in the work area.
5. It comes out and leaves. Boards, framing, and railings go on the truck, fasteners get swept off the ground with a magnet, and the area is raked flat.

What we tear out

Attached and freestanding structures, whatever they are built from:

• Pressure-treated wood decks, ground level to second story
• Cedar and redwood decks that have weathered past repair
• Composite and PVC decking over wood framing
• Wraparound decks and multi-level structures with connecting stairs
• Floating and freestanding decks on blocks or piers
• Railings, balusters, benches, and built-in planters
• Stairs, landings, and ramps
• Pergolas, arbors, and roof structures built over a deck
• Concrete pier footings and post bases, when you want the ground clear

Two things get flagged rather than cut: any deck built around a live gas line or electrical service, and older structures where the siding behind the ledger may contain asbestos. Both need the right trade before demolition, and we will say so instead of working around them.

What moves the number

Four things settle a deck teardown.

Square footage and height. A ground-level deck can be taken apart standing on the ground. Anything at second-story height means working off ladders or staging, controlled drops, and a spotter, which is slower per square foot than the same deck twelve inches off the dirt.

What it is made of. Pressure-treated lumber cannot go into clean wood recycling and is charged as construction debris at most facilities. Composite decking is heavy for its volume and is handled differently again. A cedar deck and a composite deck of the same size fill the truck to different weights and cost different amounts to drop off.

The footings. Leaving concrete piers in the ground is the cheap end and works fine if a new deck is going back. Digging them out is excavation — dense material, holes to backfill, and weight that hits truck limits quickly.

Access and carry. A deck beside a driveway with a wide gate is straightforward. A backyard deck reached only through a side gate two feet wide, with everything hand-carried a hundred feet past a flower bed, is a different job with the same square footage.

What you get on paper, and what to check first

The written estimate comes before the crew is scheduled. If the framing turns out to be rotted well past what the photos showed, or a footing appears where the plan said there were none, you hear the revised number and decide before the crew keeps going.

Two things are worth settling on your end. Permits: many jurisdictions want one for removing an attached deck, especially where the ledger comes off the house, and the rules differ from town to town. And utilities: decks routinely have low-voltage lighting, a gas line to a grill, or a hose bib and irrigation running underneath, none of which shows in a photo. Point those out and they get isolated instead of cut. AMI Junk Hauling would rather lose an hour finding a gas line than find it with a reciprocating saw.

How to pick who tears it out

The way this goes wrong is rarely dramatic. A crew pulls the deck, the price was good, and what stays behind is a stack of treated lumber by the fence, a row of concrete piers in the lawn, and a wall where the ledger used to be with the siding cut and nothing over it.

Three questions prevent all of that. Is hauling the debris part of the price or extra. Are the footings included or left in the ground. And what happens to the wall where the ledger was. Get those in writing, because each one is a separate job if it is not in the original number.

Deck removal near me: where crews run

Coverage is statewide rather than metro-only, which matters for properties where treated lumber has to travel to a construction debris facility rather than the nearest curb. Pick a state for how the work runs there — access, ground conditions, what local facilities take — and the towns covered in it.

Northeast

Connecticut · Maine · Massachusetts · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New York · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · Vermont

Midwest

Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Michigan · Minnesota · Missouri · Nebraska · North Dakota · Ohio · South Dakota · Wisconsin

South Atlantic

Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Maryland · North Carolina · South Carolina · Virginia · West Virginia

South Central

Alabama · Arkansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Mississippi · Oklahoma · Tennessee · Texas

West

Arizona · California · Colorado · Idaho · Montana · Nevada · New Mexico · Oregon · Utah · Washington · Wyoming

Other things we haul

• Junk Removal
• Boat Disposal
• RV Removal
• Shed Demolition
• Hot Tub Removal
• Pool Removal

Get a number on your deck

Send photos of the deck, the underside, and the way out to the street, or call and describe it: (888) 371-8120. You get an upfront figure in writing, with the footings and the ledger spelled out rather than left open. The form on this page works too.