Old Deck or Fence Coming Down in Hemet? How to Tear It Out and Get Rid of the Wood Without the Headache
A leaning fence, a deck with soft boards, a railing that wobbles when you lean on it. Most Hemet homeowners live with one of these for a season or two, then one hot summer, a Santa Ana wind gust, or a termite report forces the decision. The structure has to come down. The question that stops most people is not how to tear it out. It is what to do with the pile afterwards.
This guide covers both jobs together: how to sort the wood, what California rules say about treated wood and shared fences, and how to get the debris off your property without a month of trips to the dump.
First, what are you actually tearing out?
Decks and fences look simple from the street, but they are made of very different materials, and the material decides the disposal route.
A wood deck is deck boards, joists, beams, posts, stairs, and railings. The boards on top wear out first. The frame underneath can be sound or rotten, and you will not know until the boards come up. A composite deck looks like wood but is a mix of wood fiber and plastic. It cuts, weighs, and disposes differently, and it does not behave like lumber at the landfill.
A wood fence is vertical pickets or panels, horizontal rails, and posts set in concrete. The posts are the hard part. A fence post in concrete can weigh more than the whole panel it held up, and digging it out is often the slowest part of the job. Chain link, vinyl, and metal fences are a different job again: mostly metal and hardware, with concrete footings and far less wood to sort.
Before you book anything, note the material, the size, and the access: ground level or raised, attached to the house or freestanding, and whether a truck can get close. Those answers drive the time, the crew size, and the price.
The wood question that decides everything
Not all old wood is the same, and this is where most Hemet teardown plans go wrong. Sort the pile into three groups as you work, and the rest gets much easier.
Untreated, unpainted wood
Clean, untreated lumber is the easiest material to deal with. It can often be reused, given away, or sent for wood recycling or mulching. Straight, solid boards may suit a garden frame or a shed shelf. Be honest about condition: a warped, split, or nail filled board is not a favor to the next person.
Pressure treated wood
Most decks and fences in Hemet are built from pressure treated lumber, because untreated wood does not last long outdoors in Riverside County heat and dry air. Treated wood is lumber soaked in chemical preservatives to resist insects and rot. Older treated wood, especially wood installed before 2004, may contain chromated copper arsenate, known as CCA. Newer treatments are different, but you usually cannot tell by looking, so treat any old outdoor lumber as treated unless you know otherwise.
California has special rules for treated wood waste, and those rules have changed over the years, so do not rely on an old blog post or a neighbor’s memory. The current prohibitions are clear on the basics: do not burn treated wood in a fire pit, fireplace, or stove, do not chip it into mulch for landscaping or animal bedding, do not store it in contact with the ground or water, and dispose of it only at an authorized landfill or transfer facility. Riverside County lists treated wood waste as hard to handle material that requires approval before disposal, so call Riverside County Waste Resources at (951) 486-3200 before you haul a load of treated boards. That one call can save a rejected load at the gate.
Composite and painted wood
Composite decking is not wood, even though it looks like it. It is a wood and plastic mix, and it does not break down in a landfill the way wood does. It also should never be burned, because the plastic component releases harmful fumes when it burns. Painted and stained wood sits in between: the coating changes how a facility handles it, so ask the facility or your hauler before you mix painted boards into a clean wood load. Keeping the three groups separate is the easiest way to avoid a rejected load.
What to do with each material in the pile
Metal hardware goes in its own bucket from the first hour: nails, screws, brackets, hinges, and gate latches. Scrap metal is recyclable, and loose nails in a wood load cause problems at a facility and in your tires.
Concrete footings are the heaviest part of the job. Some homeowners leave them when a new deck or fence will use the same footprint. If they must go, they need breaking up and hauling as construction debris, not yard waste. Tell your hauler upfront whether footings are in or out of the job.
Yard waste from around the structure is a separate stream. Branches, shrubs, and grass pulled up during the teardown should not be mixed into a construction debris load. Our guide to yard waste and debris removal in Hemet covers the difference, and keeping the streams separate usually keeps disposal simpler.
For the full debris picture, including materials a regular hauler will not take, see our guide to what junk haulers cannot take in Hemet. Treated wood is exactly the kind of material where a quick check before loading saves a wasted trip.
Shared fences: talk to your neighbor before you touch anything
A fence on your own side of the yard is your call. A fence on the property line is a shared decision, and Hemet has plenty of those. In California, Civil Code section 841 presumes that adjoining landowners share equally in the reasonable costs of construction, maintenance, or necessary replacement of a fence dividing their properties, unless they have a written agreement saying otherwise. If you plan to incur costs for a shared fence, the law also calls for 30 days of prior written notice to the neighbor, covering the problem, the proposed solution, the estimated cost, the proposed cost sharing, and the timeline.
The practical version is simpler: talk first, write it down, then tear anything down. Agree in writing on who pays what, whether the fence is being replaced or just removed, and who handles the debris. Take dated photos before work starts. If the property line is in doubt, get a survey first, and do not remove a neighbor’s fence on your own to settle an argument.
Permits, HOAs, and the checks people skip
Tearing a structure down is not the same as building one, but do not assume no rules apply. If the deck is attached to the house, raised, or part of a larger remodel, check with the City of Hemet Community Development Department before you start. If a new deck or fence will replace the old one, that new structure is the part most likely to need approval, and footing locations, height, and setback rules matter more than the teardown itself.
If you live in a homeowners association, check its rules too. Many Hemet HOAs, especially in Seven Hills, Valle Vista, and the senior communities, set fence height, material, and color rules, and limit how long debris can sit in a front yard. Our guide to clearing an HOA violation in Hemet covers the deadline pressure those letters bring. For a fire safety cleanup, our defensible space guide for Hemet covers the county abatement rules behind them.
Should you do it yourself, or hire a crew?
A small, ground level fence run with no concrete and easy truck access is a reasonable weekend job for two people with a pry bar, a reciprocating saw, gloves, eye protection, and a dust mask. A raised deck attached to the house, or a long fence with concrete footings, is a different job. The ledger board that bolts a deck to the house is the trickiest piece to remove cleanly, and a mistake there can damage siding and leave the wall open to weather.
National guides often put professional deck removal in the range of 5 to 15 dollars per square foot, with small decks at the low end and large or complex decks much higher. That is a national range, not a Hemet quote. Size, height, stairs, railings, footing removal, gate access, and disposal fees all move the number. Compare quotes on the same scope: demolition, footing removal or not, hardware cleanup, hauling, and disposal. A cheap quote that leaves the concrete and the nails behind is not cheap.
The Hemet disposal route, in order
Sort as you tear down, keep treated wood separate, and confirm acceptance before you load. Lamb Canyon Landfill is at 16411 Lamb Canyon Rd, Beaumont, with posted hours Monday through Saturday, 6:00 AM to 4:30 PM, closed Sundays and holidays. Call ahead to confirm what it accepts on the day you plan to go, whether treated wood needs county approval for your load, and what vehicle and load rules apply.
Do not put deck or fence lumber in your residential trash cart, and do not assume a bulky pickup covers construction debris. Those programs are built for furniture and large household items, not a dismantled deck. Ask your hauler whether lumber, fencing, and concrete qualify, before demolition day. Our more services in Hemet page covers the other bulky items that often go with a deck or fence job.
Hemet checklist: deck or fence teardown in the right order
- Identify the material: untreated wood, treated wood, composite, vinyl, or metal, and sort as you go.
- For a shared fence, talk to your neighbor first and get the cost and debris agreement in writing.
- Check HOA rules and, for an attached or raised deck, check with the City of Hemet before you start.
- Decide on footings: leave them, reuse them, or break them out, and put that in the quote.
- Keep metal hardware in its own bucket, and keep yard waste out of the construction debris load.
- Never burn treated or composite wood, and never chip treated wood into mulch.
- Call Riverside County Waste Resources at (951) 486-3200 about treated wood approval before hauling.
- Call Lamb Canyon Landfill ahead to confirm acceptance, hours, and load rules for your materials.
- Clear the path to the truck, protect floors and door frames on the carry route, and sweep for nails at the end.
- Photograph the finished yard, especially if an HOA or a neighbor will want proof the debris is gone.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best way to get rid of an old deck?
Sort it first. Clean untreated wood can often be reused or recycled. Treated wood needs an authorized facility and, in Riverside County, approval before disposal. Composite goes to landfill disposal, not burning and not mulching.
I think my old deck is made of treated wood. How should I dispose of it?
Assume old outdoor lumber is treated unless you know otherwise, especially wood installed before 2004. Do not burn it, do not chip it into mulch, and do not store it on the ground or in water. Call Riverside County Waste Resources at (951) 486-3200 about approval, and confirm facility acceptance before you haul.
Can I throw old fence wood in the trash?
No, not as a rule. A few boards may fit a cart, but a dismantled fence is construction debris, not household trash. Treated boards in particular need a facility that accepts treated wood waste. Ask your hauler whether fence lumber qualifies for any pickup program before you stack it at the curb.
How much does deck demolition cost?
National guides often put professional deck removal at 5 to 15 dollars per square foot, but that is a national range, not a Hemet quote. Size, height, stairs, railings, footing removal, access, and disposal fees all change the price. Get a firm quote that states whether footings, hardware cleanup, hauling, and disposal are included.
Do I need a permit to tear down a deck in Hemet?
Tearing a structure down is usually simpler than building one, but do not assume no rules apply, especially for an attached or raised deck or a deck that is part of a larger remodel. Check with the City of Hemet Community Development Department before you start, and check HOA rules too. The replacement deck or fence is the part most likely to need approval.
Can my neighbor remove our shared boundary fence?
A fence on the property line is presumed to be a shared responsibility in California, with 30 days of prior written notice required before incurring costs for it. Talk first, agree in writing, and do not remove a shared fence to settle a dispute. If the line is disputed, get a survey before anyone starts work.
Will a removal crew take the deck footings too?
Ask, and get it in writing. Some quotes include breaking out concrete footings, some leave them for a new structure, and some charge extra for them. Footings are heavy, they need different tools, and they change the truck load, so a quote that does not mention footings is not a complete quote.
A final word before you start swinging
A deck or fence teardown looks like a demolition job, but most of the work is sorting, paperwork, and hauling. Get the sort right, get the neighbor agreement in writing, and confirm the disposal route before the first board comes up.
If you would rather hand the whole pile to a crew, Hemet Haul Masters can help you plan the load, and our construction debris removal in Hemet page covers the teardown debris that goes with it.