How Much Does Deck Removal Cost in Polk County, FL?

A deck in Polk County has a shelf life. Sun bakes the boards, summer rain soaks them, and termites finish what the weather started. When you're ready for it gone, the first question is what it costs. Here's the honest answer: most decks are a half trailer ($350) or a full trailer ($700) of debris, torn down and hauled in one visit. The rest of this post is what pushes a deck toward one or the other.

What does deck removal cost?

I don't price a deck by the square foot. I price it by how much of my dump trailer it fills once it's apart, and that one number covers the tear-down, the loading and the haul. Same ladder as everything else I do: $225 for a quarter trailer, $350 for a half, $525 for three-quarters, $700 for a full. Stairs, the carry to the truck and the drive are all in it.

Send me a photo from the yard and a photo from underneath, and tell me roughly how big it is. I'll tell you which row you're in before anyone brings a saw.

What makes a deck cost more?

Four things, and none of them are hidden fees. They just change how much wood comes off and how much room it takes.

Size. The obvious one. More boards, more joists, more trailer.

Rot. Rotten wood is actually easier to demo, because it breaks instead of fighting the pry bar. But it's messy, and it can't be stacked neat, so it takes up more room in the trailer than sound lumber does. A rotten deck can fill a half trailer that a solid deck the same size wouldn't.

Attached to the house. A deck bolted to the house through a ledger board takes more care. I unbolt it and take it down without touching the siding or the framing. If the deck is holding up a roof or a screen room, that's not small-structure demo and I'll say so on the phone.

Composite vs. wood. Composite boards are heavier than pine and don't break down as small, so they take more trailer. The framing under composite is usually still wood. Neither one changes the ladder. It just changes which rung.

What about the posts and the footings?

Deck posts in Florida are either set in concrete or sitting on a pier block. I pull them with the skid steer or dig them out, and the footing comes with the post. A handful of footings ride on the trailer with the lumber. If you're rebuilding on the same footprint and want the posts left standing, tell me before I start and I'll work around them.

Can the old deck wood be donated?

No. Almost every deck in Polk County is pressure-treated lumber, and once it's been outside for years, it isn't something Goodwill or the Salvation Army will take. It goes to the landfill or the transfer station with the rest of the load. Composite is the same. If a contractor replaced part of your deck and left a pile of good new boards, that's a different pickup and it's just a load by size.

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Do I need a permit to remove a deck?

Ask the building department. Inside a city, that's the city. In unincorporated Polk County, that's the county. The answer depends on the size of the deck and whether it's attached. I'm a hauler, not the permit office, and I won't tell you it's fine when I don't know. When a job needs a permit, I work with a general contractor on it, and I tell you that on the first call, not after the boards are off.

What does demo day look like?

1. Walk it. I look at how it's built, where it's attached and what's under it.
2. Railings and stairs first. They come off in sections.
3. Boards, then joists, then beams. Screws, nails and hangers ride along in the wood.
4. Posts out. Pulled or dug, footing and all, unless you're keeping them.
5. Rake. The footprint gets raked before the trailer leaves the driveway.

Most decks are a morning. A big one is a day. You get one number before we start, and it's the number you pay when we're done.

What Big Rob's does here

The deck removal page covers the job itself, and the demolition page shows what else counts as small-structure demo. Deck calls come from Davenport, Haines City, Winter Haven, Lake Alfred and Auburndale.

Text a photo of the deck to (863) 225-2147 and I'll tell you which trailer it is.