Wood, chain link, and vinyl fences — a high-margin demo job where scrap metal revenue on chain link can make disposal net-positive every time.
Last updated: Mar 2026
Pricing
Pricing considerations for the job size, materials and access requirements.
$200–$500
Full teardown of panels, rails, and hardware
Post removal — cut at grade or pulled if ground-set
All debris hauled to appropriate disposal facility
Site raked clean along entire fence line
Charge $400–$500 when posts are concrete-set in clay soil requiring extraction, or when the fence is vinyl or composite that resists standard cutting and generates zero scrap revenue to offset disposal fees.
$500–$800
Full demolition of all panels, posts, and hardware
One full truck load hauled — typically fills 60–70% of a 16-ft dump trailer
Post extraction or cut-at-grade per customer preference
Site raked clean with post holes backfilled with loose dirt
Charge $700–$800 for 6-ft privacy fences with metal posts set in concrete footings, especially in rocky or compacted soil where extraction takes 5–8 minutes per post instead of the typical 2–3 minutes.
$800–$1,200+
Full property perimeter fence removal including corner and gate sections
Multiple loads possible — budget for 1.5–2 dump runs on 150+ ft jobs
Post extraction or cut-at-grade on all posts
Complete site cleanup with all nail and staple debris removed
Push above $1,200 when the fence mixes materials — e.g., wood privacy on three sides with chain link on the fourth — or includes commercial-grade galvanized chain link with top rail, tension wire, and concrete footings every 8 feet.
$1,200–$2,500+
Large-scale perimeter fence teardown — parking lots, commercial lots, industrial yards
Heavy equipment may be needed — skid steer for post extraction on long runs
Full scrap metal sorting on-site for maximum recovery
Multi-day scheduling if needed with partial load hauls each day
Charge top dollar for wrought iron fencing cemented into masonry caps, or high-security chain link with barbed wire top rail — the barbed wire removal alone adds 30–45 minutes per 100 ft and requires specialized handling and disposal.
Checklist
Linear footage and material type drive your price. Walk the full fence run before quoting — measure twice, quote once.
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A typical backyard privacy fence is 100–200 linear feet. Side-yard runs average 40–80 ft. Use a measuring wheel for accuracy on long runs.
Chain link generates $0.05–$0.12/lb in scrap revenue. Vinyl and composite resist standard cutting and have zero scrap value. Wrought iron is extremely heavy at 8–15 lbs per linear foot.
Surface-bolted posts just unbolt. Always ask if the customer wants extraction or cut-at-grade before quoting.
Height directly affects labor time, truck space, and disposal weight. Most residential fences are 4 ft (front yard) or 6 ft (back and side yards).
Shared boundary fences require written agreement from both neighbors before any demolition begins. Check for survey stakes or ask to see the property plat.
Charge $75–$200 extra depending on density. Overgrown fence jobs look worse in photos than they actually are — walk the line before adding labor hours.
Take timestamped photos of existing damage before starting. One cracked sprinkler head costs $25 to fix — but the argument costs you an hour and a review.
Field operations
Budget $3–$5 per blade — you will burn through 2–4 blades per 100 ft of wood fence.
A 36-inch flat bar gives you the leverage to pop fence boards without splitting them, keeping debris manageable.
The $50–$100 tool pays for itself on the first job.
A quality 24-inch bolt cutter handles 3/8-inch wire easily. Bring a spare pair — chain link dulls cheap cutters fast.
Beats pacing or eyeballing, and gives the customer confidence you are pricing accurately rather than guessing high.
Use a 4.5-inch grinder with metal cut-off discs — keep 3–4 spare discs on the truck.
A 6-ft digging bar breaks compacted soil and clay around footings faster than a shovel alone.
Costs $25–$40 and prevents a callback from a customer who stepped on a nail in the grass — or worse, their kid did.
Far faster than a standard drill on corroded fasteners. Bring a full set of hex and star bits — fence hardware is never standard.
Cut-resistant gloves rated ANSI Level 4 minimum — chain link edges slice through standard work gloves and will open up your palms
Safety glasses or face shield when running the recip saw or angle grinder — wood splinters and metal sparks are constant
Steel-toe boots — dropped posts and concrete footings will crush a regular work boot
Hearing protection (foam plugs or muffs) when running power tools for extended cuts
Long sleeves or forearm guards for chain link jobs — the cut ends of chain link wire catch and drag across exposed skin
Workflow
Execute the job safely and efficiently every time.
For shared boundary fences, require written consent from both property owners — a text message screenshot works, but an email is better. Walk the full fence line with the customer and mark start and stop points with flagging tape. Note and photograph any pre-existing damage to adjacent landscaping, sprinkler heads, or structures.
Underground water, gas, electric, and cable lines frequently run along property boundaries — exactly where fences are built. Utility locators will mark lines with spray paint. Do not extract any posts within 18 inches of a marked utility without hand-digging first. Skip this step and you risk a $2,000–$8,000 gas line repair and a potential evacuation.
For wood fences, use the pry bar to pop panels off posts — most residential panels are nailed or screwed to horizontal rails with 2–3 fasteners per board. For chain link, disconnect tension bands at one end, then roll the fabric toward the other end using two people. Stack wood panels flat near the truck staging area. Roll chain link tight with tie wire to keep it manageable — a loose roll of chain link will spring open in the truck bed and double your load time.
Remove gate hardware with the impact driver — hinges, latches, and wheel assemblies. Gates are heavy, especially on 6-ft privacy fences — a double-swing driveway gate can weigh 80–120 lbs. Have two people carry gates to the truck. Sort metal hardware into a separate bucket for the scrap yard — small hardware adds up to $3–$8 per fence in scrap value.
For extraction, clamp the post puller or Hi-Lift jack chain around the post at ground level and lever out the post with footing attached. A typical 4×4 wood post with a 10-inch concrete footing weighs 40–60 lbs. Stack extracted footings separately — concrete goes to clean fill, not C&D. On a 20-post fence, extraction adds 40–90 minutes versus cutting.
Wood panels and posts go to C&D recycling at $25–$45 per ton. Chain link fabric and metal posts go to the scrap yard — roll chain link tight and bundle metal posts with ratchet straps to prevent shifting during transit. Concrete footings go to a clean fill site at $0–$18 per ton. A well-sorted load saves you $20–$40 in dump fees per job and earns you $20–$80 in scrap on chain link jobs. If you dump everything mixed at a landfill, you pay full MSW rates of $55–$85 per ton.
Rake the fence line 2 ft wide on both sides. Fill extracted post holes with loose dirt mounded slightly above grade — it will settle 1–2 inches over the next few weeks. Take after photos from the same angles as your before photos. Text the customer a completion photo before you leave the property — this takes 30 seconds and prevents 90% of callbacks.
Disposal
Most C&D facilities accept fence wood without issue. Treated lumber (green-tinted, CCA-stamped) may be rejected by some recyclers and needs to go to an approved landfill — check your local facility rules. Typical turnaround at C&D is 10–15 minutes for a single truck load.
$25–$45/ton
Roll chain link tight and bundle posts for easy weighing at the yard. Current scrap steel prices fluctuate between $0.05–$0.12/lb depending on your region and market conditions. A typical 100-ft chain link fence yields 200–400 lbs of scrap metal. Build a relationship with one yard — consistent sellers get better per-pound rates.
Revenue of $20–$80per fence
Most municipalities have free or low-cost clean fill drop-off locations. Call ahead — some sites only accept concrete without rebar or metal attachments. If you cannot find a clean fill site, concrete goes to C&D at standard rates. On a 25-post fence, concrete footings total 800–1,200 lbs.
$0–$18/ton
Safety & compliance
Walk away from these. The margin isn’t worth the risk.
Red Flags — Decline or Reprice
Profitability
55–70% gross margin on residential wood and chain link fence removal — material is lightweight relative to volume, labor is straightforward, and disposal costs are among the lowest in the demo category at $25–$45 per ton for C&D
Chain link fences generate $20–$80 in scrap metal revenue per job, which offsets or eliminates disposal costs entirely — a 150-ft commercial chain link fence can yield $60–$80 in scrap, making disposal net-positive after dump fees
Per-linear-foot pricing ($3–$8/ft) is dead simple to quote over the phone or through ScaleYourJunk load-based booking — customers understand linear foot pricing intuitively, which reduces quote disputes and speeds the close rate
Fast work with power tools — a trained 2-person crew clears 100 ft of 6-ft wood privacy fence in 2.5–3 hours including post cutting and cleanup, yielding $600–$800 in revenue at an effective hourly rate of $200–$320 per crew hour
Fence removal pairs naturally with other yard demo work — deck removal, shed demolition, and yard waste cleanup — allowing you to upsell $200–$600 of additional scope on 30–40% of fence jobs when you walk the property during the quote
Risk management
The primary risks are damage to adjacent landscaping, sprinkler systems, underground irrigation lines, and the neighbor's property on shared boundary lines. Carry $1M per occurrence minimum — most residential customers do not ask, but commercial and HOA clients will require a certificate of insurance.
Verify your GL policy does not carry a demolition exclusion — approximately 15% of standard junk removal policies exclude demo work by default. If your policy excludes demo, adding a demolition endorsement typically costs $200–$400 per year.
chain link wire cuts through standard gloves, concrete footings drop on feet during extraction, and flying debris from recip saws and angle grinders causes eye injuries. Workers comp for junk removal and light demo runs $8–$14 per $100 of payroll in most states.
Operator tips
Underground gas, water, electric, and cable lines run along property boundaries — exactly where fences are built.
A clipped gas line costs $2,000–$5,000 in emergency repair and shuts your job down for the day. 811 locates are free and take 48 hours. Schedule the locate when you book the job, not the day before.
Chain link fabric, metal posts, top rail, and tension bars are all recyclable scrap steel.
A 100-ft fence yields 200–400 lbs of metal at $0.05–$0.12/lb — that is $20–$80 in revenue per fence. Roll the fabric tight with tie wire so it does not spring open in transit. Build a relationship with one scrap yard for consistent per-pound pricing.
Cut-at-grade is 1–2 minutes per post with a recip saw.
Extraction is 3–8 minutes per post with a puller. On a 25-post fence, that is a 50–150 minute difference. Quote cut-at-grade as default and offer extraction at $15–$30 per post as an upgrade. Customers only need extraction if a new fence is going in the same post holes.
A chain-clamp style post puller or Hi-Lift jack with a chain attachment costs $50–$100 and extracts concrete-set posts in 2–3…
…minutes versus 15–20 minutes of digging with a shovel. On a 20-post job, the puller saves you 4–5 hours of labor. That is $200–$300 in crew cost saved on a single job.
A $25–$40 rolling magnetic sweeper catches every nail, staple, fence tie, and wire scrap buried in the grass along the fence line.
One missed roofing nail means a barefoot homeowner steps on it two days later, calls you angry, and leaves a 1-star review. Thirty seconds with the magnet prevents that entirely.
Fence removal costs $3–$8 per linear foot, or $200–$1,200+ for a typical residential job. Under 50 ft of wood fence runs $200–$500. A 100-ft privacy fence with concrete-set posts runs $700–$1,000. Concrete footing extraction adds $15–$30 per post. Chain link fences cost slightly less to remove because scrap metal revenue offsets disposal. Height, material, and post setting method are the main price drivers — always measure the full run including gates before quoting.
A 2-person crew removes 50 ft of wood fence in 1.5–2 hours and 100 ft in 2.5–3.5 hours including cleanup. Chain link is slightly faster because you roll fabric instead of pulling individual boards, but tension band removal adds time on commercial-grade installations. Post extraction adds 3–8 minutes per post versus 1–2 minutes for cut-at-grade. A full 200-ft backyard perimeter with extraction typically takes 4–5 hours for a 3-person crew.
Concrete footing removal is offered as an optional upgrade at $15–$30 per post. The default is cutting posts flush at ground level, which is faster and cheaper — the buried footing decomposes over many years and does not affect grass growth. Full extraction is necessary only when a new fence will be installed in the same post locations. Extracted footings weigh 30–50 lbs each and route to clean fill disposal at $0–$18 per ton.
A typical 100-ft residential chain link fence yields 200–400 lbs of scrap steel worth $20–$80 at current rates of $0.05–$0.12 per pound. Commercial chain link with heavier gauge fabric and larger posts yields more. Wrought iron has the highest per-pound scrap value but is extremely heavy. Wood fences have zero scrap value. Roll chain link tight and bundle posts to make weighing easier at the scrap yard — loose piles get weighed less accurately.
Shared boundary fences require written agreement from both property owners before any demolition begins. A text message or email confirmation from the neighbor is the minimum — a signed note is better. If the neighbor disputes ownership or objects, do not start the job. Property line disputes can escalate to lawsuits, and you do not want your company named in a neighbor-vs-neighbor boundary case. Ask the customer to provide proof of sole ownership or joint consent during the quoting stage.
Resources
Another high-margin outdoor structure teardown that pairs naturally with fence removal on backyard cleanup jobs.
Backyard structure demo using the same recip saws and pry bars — crews often combine deck and fence removal into a single dispatch.
Overgrown fences generate brush and vine debris. Yard waste removal covers disposal routing for organic material.
Record disposal cost, tons, the dump site and a receipt photo in the driver app.
Let customers select fence removal by linear footage online — captures job scope before your crew rolls.
Review playset removal planning, dismantling, hauling and disposal considerations for backyard structures.
Dispatch assigns demo-equipped crews. Dump fee tracking captures scrap revenue as income. Per-job profitability shows your true margin on every fence teardown.
Included in Starter ($149/mo) and Growth ($299/mo). Annual billing is available.
