Elite Demo and Junk Removal
Dump trailer loaded with a washer, dryer, sectional and mattress after a Kyle property cleanout

FAQ

Junk removal and demolition questions

Real answers to what people search before they call a hauler. Cost, appliances, hot tubs, demolition, and what to ask whoever you hire.

Call (210) 723-9325 See the work
  • Cost drivers
  • Appliances
  • Hot tubs
  • Demolition

Most of these questions are about money, and most of the pages that answer them are national cost calculators that have never been to Hays County. Below is the version from the crew that loads the trailer. Where the honest answer is that it depends, what it depends on is listed instead of a made up number.

How pricing works

Junk removal is priced by the load

Nobody in this trade charges by the item for long. The number comes off four things, and three of them have nothing to do with what the item is.

  1. One

    Volume

    How much of the trailer bed your load fills. A quarter of a trailer costs less than a full one. This is the main lever, and it is why a hauler wants to see the pile before quoting.

  2. Two

    Labor and access

    Curb, garage, second floor, behind a locked gate. The same couch is two different jobs depending on how far it has to be carried and how many corners it has to turn.

  3. Three

    Disposal

    The landfill charges by weight. Concrete, roofing and wet lumber weigh far more per cubic yard than cardboard and furniture, so a heavy load costs more at the same volume.

  4. Four

    Tear out

    A deck, fence, shed or hot tub is not a pile yet. Somebody has to take it apart before it can be loaded, and that is labor on top of the haul.

  • Dump trailer loaded with bagged trash and bulk items at an apartment complex
    After
  • Dump trailer loaded with cardboard, rubber wall base and plywood from an Austin jobsite
    After / Austin, TX
  • Old aluminum window units loaded in the dump trailer at a jobsite
    After

Three real loads at three different weights. Bagged apartment trash, an Austin jobsite of plywood and rubber wall base, and a trailer of old aluminum windows. Same trailer, three different prices.

Cost

What junk removal costs

These three get searched more than anything else in this market, and all three trigger an answer box. Here is how the money actually works.

What is the minimum price for junk removal?
Every hauler has a minimum charge, and it exists because the truck still drives out, the crew still loads by hand, and the load still gets paid for at the landfill scale whether it is one mattress or a full trailer. That minimum normally covers a single item or a small pile, which is why one couch costs more per item than a whole garage does. Elite does not publish a price list on this site. Call (210) 723-9325, say what you have and what city you are in, and you get the number for your job instead of a range off a web page.
What's included in a $99 junk removal service?
A $99 price is an advertised minimum, not a flat rate for whatever you have. In this trade that number typically buys one item or a small load taken from the curb or the driveway, with disposal included. What it usually does not include: stairs, long carries out of a back yard, taking a structure apart before it can be loaded, heavy or awkward items like a hot tub or a safe, and anything the landfill charges extra to accept. Before you book, ask three things. Does the price include disposal, what counts as one item, and what pushes it up.
How much does 1-800 got junk charge to pick up your junk?
We are not going to quote another company’s price list, because we would be guessing and you would be making a decision on that guess. What is worth knowing is how the model works. National franchises price by how much of the truck bed your stuff fills, from a single item minimum up to a full truck, and the crew gives the number onsite once they can see the pile. Do the same thing with any hauler you call, this one included: get a price for the load that is actually in front of them.

Appliances

Appliances, washers and refrigerators

Appliance removal is one of the biggest search terms in this area. Most of it is somebody with a dead washer in a laundry room and no truck.

How much does it cost to remove an appliance?
It depends on which appliance and where it sits. A dryer already at the curb is the cheap end. A refrigerator on a second floor that has to come out through a narrow doorway is the expensive end, because you are paying for the carry, not the box. Refrigerators, freezers and window air conditioners also hold refrigerant, which federal rules require to be recovered by a certified technician before the unit is scrapped, so those often cost more to take than a washer or a dryer. When you call, say which appliance, which floor, and whether it is already disconnected.
What is the best way to get rid of old appliances?
If it still runs, sell it or donate it, because a working washer, range or refrigerator has real value and somebody will come get it. If it is dead, there are two good options. A scrap metal recycler will often take it for nothing, since the steel is worth something. Or a hauler pulls it out of the house and takes it away on the same trip. The difference is labor. The scrapper wants it sitting at the curb. A hauler goes and gets it out of the laundry room.
How do I get rid of my washing machine for free?
Three routes cost nothing. Put it out for a scrap metal recycler or a scrapper running the neighborhood, since a washer is mostly steel. Check whether your city runs a bulk item collection for residents and what its rules are for appliances. Or have the retailer haul the old one off when the new one is delivered, which many will do free or close to it if you ask at the time you order. All three assume you can get it to the curb yourself. Paying a hauler is what buys the carry out of the house.
How much does got junk charge to pick up a refrigerator?
We will not put a number on a competitor’s price list. In general a refrigerator is priced as a single item minimum plus a surcharge, because it is heavy, awkward through a doorway, and holds refrigerant that has to be handled under EPA rules before the unit is scrapped. Whoever you call, tell them it is a refrigerator, tell them what floor it is on, and ask whether refrigerant handling is inside the quote or billed on top of it.
  • Trash enclosure in Kyle packed with a mattress, dryer, recliner and boxes
    Before / Kyle, TX
  • Overflowing apartment dumpster enclosure in San Marcos with bulk items spilling onto the pad
    Before / San Marcos, TX

A dryer and a recliner packed into a Kyle trash enclosure, and a San Marcos apartment pad with bulk items stacked past the dumpster. More on the appliance removal page.

Hot tubs

Hot tub removal and hot tub moving

Hot tubs are one of the jobs where access changes the price more than the tub does. Two gates, same tub, two different afternoons.

How much does it cost to have someone remove a hot tub?
The price comes down to access and how the tub has to come apart. A shell sitting on a slab next to a wide gate is the easy version and it can go out whole. A tub sunk into a deck, up a flight of stairs, or behind a 36 inch gate has to be cut into pieces and carried out by hand, and that is hours of labor. Other things that move the number: whether it is still wired to a 240 volt circuit, whether it is still full of water, and how far it sits from the closest spot a trailer can park. Call with those four details and you get a real price.
What is the cheapest way to get rid of a hot tub?
Give it away to somebody who will move it themselves. If the tub still runs, list it free and let the buyer bring the trailer, the dolly and the people. If it is dead, the cheapest do-it-yourself route is cutting the shell down with a reciprocating saw and putting it out across several bulk pickups or into a rented dumpster. Price that honestly before you call it cheap: saw blades, the dumpster or the dump fee, and a weekend of your own labor. Hiring it out is one afternoon and the tub is gone.
What's the average cost to move a hot tub?
Moving a hot tub and removing one are two different jobs with two different prices. Moving means the tub has to survive, which takes a tub dolly, straps, four sets of hands, and sometimes a crane if it has to go over a fence or around a house. The cost climbs with stairs, tight turns, and how far it has to travel. Removal means the tub does not have to survive, so it can be cut apart on site, which is usually the cheaper of the two. Elite hauls tubs off. If you want one relocated instead of removed, say so on the call.
  • Hot tub in place on a backyard deck in Guadalupe County before removal
    Before
  • Elite Demo and Junk Removal crew standing a hot tub shell upright beside the company dump trailer in San Marcos
    On the job / San Marcos, TX
  • Hot tub shell loaded on the dump trailer with moving blankets underneath
    After

One tub still in place on a backyard deck in Guadalupe County, one shell standing beside the trailer in San Marcos, one loaded on moving blankets and ready to go. Full detail on the hot tub removal page and the San Marcos hot tub job.

Demolition

Demolition cost and demolition contractors

Google answers the demolition questions with national cost calculators. Here is the version from people who own the trailer.

What are the three types of demolition?
Manual, mechanical and implosion. Manual demolition is crews with hand tools taking a structure apart piece by piece, which is what deck removal, fence removal, shed removal and interior tear out are. Mechanical demolition uses machines, an excavator or a skid steer with a breaker or a grapple, for structures too big or too slow to take down by hand. Implosion uses engineered explosive charges to drop a large building in place, and it is rare, heavily permitted, specialist work. Elite does the manual and light mechanical end of that list.
What does it cost to demolish a 2000 sq ft house?
Square footage is only the starting point, and it is the smallest part of the answer. The real drivers are disposal tonnage, because a house makes a lot of tons and the landfill bills by weight; foundation or slab removal, which is a separate scope from the structure above it; permits and utility disconnects, which have to happen before anything comes down; and a hazardous materials survey, since homes built before the 1980s can hold asbestos or lead paint that require licensed abatement. Anyone who quotes a whole house over the phone without asking about those four is guessing. Elite handles decks, fences, sheds, trampolines and interior tear out. For a full teardown, call and describe it and you get a straight answer on whether it is our job.
How to calculate demolition cost?
Add four things: labor, disposal, access and paperwork. Labor is the hours it takes to get the structure apart with tools that fit the site. Disposal is weight or volume at the landfill, and on demolition work it is often the largest single line on the bill. Access decides whether a machine can reach the work or whether a crew carries every board out by hand, which can double the labor on the exact same structure. Paperwork is permits, utility disconnects, and abatement if the building is old enough to need it. A square foot figure from an online calculator gets you a ballpark. Somebody walking the site gets you a price.
How to choose a house demolition contractor?
Ask five questions and the field sorts itself out fast. Are you insured, and can you send the certificate. Who pulls the permit, you or me. What happens to the debris, and is disposal included in this number. Who disconnects the utilities before work starts. And can you show me photos of jobs you actually did. That last one matters more than it sounds. Every photo on this site is a real Elite job with the city it was shot in, and they are all on the projects page.
  • Crew member prying deck boards off the framing during a San Marcos deck removal
    On the job / San Marcos, TX
  • Two crew members dismantling a large backyard trampoline in San Antonio
    On the job / San Antonio, TX
  • Curbside pile of demolished red stained deck lumber and framing beside a chain link fence
    After

Deck boards coming off the framing in San Marcos, a trampoline being dismantled in San Antonio, and stained deck lumber stacked at the curb afterward. That is manual demolition, and the debris leaves with us. See deck removal, fence removal, shed removal and interior demolition.

Service area

Finding a hauler near you

Where the trailer goes, and what to do if you are not sure you are in range.

Where can I find junk removal services in New Braunfels, Texas?
Elite Demo and Junk Removal covers New Braunfels. It sits in Comal County, well inside the 35 mile working radius from San Marcos, and there is a documented fence removal on this site with the old cedar pickets stacked at the curb in New Braunfels. Call (210) 723-9325, or read the New Braunfels page for what gets hauled there. Kyle, Buda, Austin, San Antonio, Round Rock and Cedar Park are covered too, along with the smaller towns inside that radius. If your address sits near the edge of it, call and ask rather than guessing.
  • New cedar fence in New Braunfels with the old pickets and brush stacked at the curb for haul off
    After / New Braunfels, TX
  • Pile of old fence pickets and brush at the curb in New Braunfels
    After / New Braunfels, TX

New Braunfels is in Comal County. Base is San Marcos, TX 78666, and the working radius is 35 miles.

See the full service area.

Services

The jobs these questions are about

Every service page shows what gets hauled, plus the photos from the jobs where it happened.

All 14 services Every documented job

Still want a number?

Call and describe the pile. What it is, what city it is in, where it sits, and whether anything has to come apart first. That is all it takes to get a price.

Call (210) 723-9325 Message on Instagram

Elite Demo and Junk Removal. San Marcos, Texas, 35 mile radius.

San Marcos and 35 miles out Call (210) 723-9325