Fence removal cost calculator
Removing a fence comes down to four costs: the labour to strip it, getting the posts out, getting rid of the debris, and any fees. Each one depends on local rates, so this tool asks for yours. It lists every line, and if a new fence is going in, it adds that too and gives you the full replacement cost.
Pre-filled with a 120 ft wood fence, 16 posts and one gate. Change any field.
The old fence
Posts and labour
Disposal and fees
Replacing it?
Treated posts built before 2004 may be CCA-treated. EPA says never burn treated wood at home or turn it into mulch. It can usually go out as ordinary trash, but check your local rules first. Prices move weekly and by region. Enter the unit price your yard quoted you — the defaults are round placeholders, not a market average.
What it counts
Tear-out is the boards, panels or fabric and the rails. Crews price it per foot or by the hour. Use whichever one your quote uses. Posts are priced on their own because the method changes the cost more than anything else. Disposal is a dumpster, haul-away loads, or a landfill fee by weight. Metal fences can earn a scrap credit back. And if you are replacing the fence, the new one is the biggest line of all.
The defaults describe a 120 ft wood fence with 16 posts and one gate. They are placeholders. The tool is only as good as the rates you type in, so get two quotes and enter each one to see where they differ.
Pull the footings or cut at grade
Pulled. Post and footing come out together and leave a hole to backfill. More work per post, and a clean site for the new fence.
Cut at grade. Quick, but the footing stays in the ground, and the new posts have to go somewhere else.
Pulling each post with its concrete is slow, heavy work, and it leaves a hole to backfill. Cutting at grade is quick, but the concrete stays in the ground. That is fine if the new fence runs somewhere else. If it runs on the same line, every new hole has to miss an old footing. The bay layout shifts to avoid them, and the fence post calculator can redo the spacing.
Same line, same posts? Then you may not need to remove the posts at all. Run the checklist below first.
Contact 811 before you pull or dig
Pulling a concreted post means digging around its footing. The 811 service says any digging needs a locate request first, and it names fences. Call 811, or use your state 811 center's website, a few business days before you start. Wait until every utility has responded. Then dig carefully around the paint or flags, never on them. Gas is marked in yellow.
New post holes are another dig, so ask for the locate to cover the new fence line as well. The 811 guidance also says to request a new locate for each digging job, because erosion and roots can move buried lines.
Reuse the posts?
Keep an old post only if all of these are true:
- Solid at the ground line. On wood, push a screwdriver into the post where it meets the soil. If it sinks in, the post is rotting where it matters most.
- Plumb and not heaved. A post that leans or has lifted out of its footing will pass the same fault to the new fence.
- Spaced for the new fence. Vinyl and aluminum panels are made to fixed lengths, so the old post spacing has to match the new panels to the inch, not roughly.
- Tall enough. The post has to reach the top of the new fence, and a taller fence puts more wind load on a footing that was sized for the old one.
- The same material system. Panel fences are usually built on their own maker's posts, routed or punched to fit, so old wood posts rarely suit a new vinyl or aluminum fence.
- Allowed to stay. If the replacement needs a permit, ask whether the inspector will accept existing posts before you plan around them.
If any one fails, replace the post. A new fence on a bad post fails at the post, and the post is the one part you cannot fix later without taking the panels down. Depth for the new posts is in how deep fence posts should be.
Old treated wood
According to the EPA, CCA-treated wood was used in homes until the manufacturers stopped making it for residential use in December 2003. A treated fence older than that may contain it. The EPA's guidance for homeowners: do not burn treated wood at home, do not reuse it as mulch, and wear goggles and a dust mask when you saw it, then wash your hands. It can usually go out as ordinary household trash, but state and local rules can differ, so check with your waste program before you book the dumpster.
Removal plus a new fence
Set “Add a new fence” to yes and enter the installed price per foot for the new fence. If you do not have one yet, build it in the fence cost calculator, or the privacy fence cost calculator for a solid fence. Want a different material this time? The aluminum vs wood comparison and the vinyl vs wood comparison cover the trade-offs.
Ask whether a replacement quote includes removal. Some do and some don't, which is why two quotes can look far apart when they aren't. Enter both on the same lines and compare them properly. The fence cost per foot guide explains how to normalise quotes.
Sources
- 811 Before You Dig (call811.com), Common Ground Alliance: when to contact 811 and what happens next read 2026-10-18
- 811 Before You Dig, “Before You Dig”: waiting for marks, marking colours, digging around the marks read 2026-10-18
- US EPA, Chromated Arsenicals (CCA): disposing of treated wood safely read 2026-10-18
Filed under Costs, codes & permits — 12 tools, guides and comparisons in this pillar.
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