How much to charge for fence removal and haul away

Tear-out is the line contractors most often give away. It gets thrown in to look competitive, or forgotten entirely, and then swallows half a day plus a dump run. Here is how much to charge for fence removal, and how to quote it so it pays.

Removal is three separate costs

Quote it as one number and you will underprice it. It is really:

1. Demolition labor, per linear foot, driven by material and how it was set.
2. Footing removal, per post, if the old posts were set in concrete.
3. Disposal, a flat fee covering the trailer, the drive, and the dump ticket.

Skip any of the three and the job eats it.

Per-foot tear-out rates by material

Typical installed removal rates, before disposal:

• Chain link, 4 ft: $2 to $4 per foot. Fast: cut the ties, roll the fabric, pull the posts.
• Wood picket or privacy, 6 ft: $3 to $6 per foot. Slower; boards come off one at a time and the debris is bulky.
• Vinyl privacy: $3 to $5 per foot. Panels come apart cleanly but posts are usually well set.
• Ornamental aluminum or iron: $4 to $8 per foot. Heavy, often bolted, sometimes cut.
• Split rail: $2 to $3 per foot. The easiest removal in fencing.

A fence that is already falling down is not necessarily faster. Rotted wood breaks instead of levering out, and you end up digging every post.

Concrete footings are the real variable

This is what separates a two-hour tear-out from a full day. Ask, or probe, before you quote:

• Posts set in dirt: pull them with the truck or a post puller. Cheap.
• Posts set in concrete: each one is a dig, a lever, and a lift. A footing on a 4x4 wood post can be 60 to 100 pounds of concrete; on a drive-gate post, far more.

Price footing removal per post, typically $8 to $20 each depending on size and soil, and say so on the quote. If the customer wants the footings left in the ground, that is cheaper and a legitimate option, but note it in writing, because it constrains where new posts can go.

Disposal: charge the dump, plus the drive

Dump fees vary enormously by region and by material (clean wood is often cheaper than mixed C and D debris). What matters is that you charge for:

• The tipping fee itself
• The trailer or truck time
• The driving, which is often an hour round trip you cannot bill anywhere else

A flat haul-away fee of $100 to $250 covers most residential jobs. Large jobs, or anything with concrete footings coming out, deserve a bigger number or a dumpster line.

Two things people forget: treated lumber cannot be burned and is sometimes restricted at transfer stations, and concrete is often a separate, cheaper stream if you keep it clean. Sorting on site can genuinely save you money.

A worked removal quote

100 feet of old 6 ft wood privacy, posts set in concrete, 13 posts:

• Tear-out: 100 ft at $4/ft = $400
• Footing removal: 13 posts at $12 = $156
• Haul-away: $150 flat

That is $706 for removal on a job many contractors quote as "we will take the old one out, no charge." It is most of a day between two people, plus the dump run.

Put it on the quote, always

Even when you decide to discount removal to win a job, show it as a line and then show the discount. Two things happen: the customer sees the real value of what they are getting, and you stop training yourself to think demolition is free.

An itemized quote also protects you when the scope changes. If they say "actually leave the back run up," you remove a line rather than renegotiating a lump sum.

Make it automatic

Tear-out and haul-away are exactly the lines that get forgotten under time pressure, which is why they belong in your price book rather than your memory. In PicketQuote they are structured options: enter the feet of tear-out, flag haul-away, and both land on the quote at your rates with the totals recalculated.

For the wider pricing picture see our 2026 fence cost guide, and for the other classic margin leak, pricing gates.