Deck Removal in Toronto — OCM Excavation & Construction
We tear down old backyard decks across Toronto and the GTA. Pressure-treated wood, cedar, composite, second-storey, ground-level. We have pulled all of them. Most jobs take one to two days, run $1,500 to $4,500, and finish with the yard graded flat. We haul the lumber and concrete footings to a certified disposal facility ourselves. Call 416-317-3090 for a site visit and a written quote.
Why Deck Removal Is an Excavation Job, Not a Carpentry Job
Most homeowners call a carpenter or a generic demo crew to pull an old deck. Then the carpenter hits the concrete footings. Usually 4 to 6 feet deep, 12 inches across, sometimes a bell-bottom that flares out at the base. The job stalls. You end up with a flat patch of ground, a pile of busted lumber, and a row of concrete piers sticking up where the posts used to be. Toronto building code requires footings below frost line (4 feet minimum), so that is what you are dealing with under every old deck in the city.
An excavation contractor pulls the whole thing. Lumber comes off first with reciprocating saws and pry bars. Joists, ledger board, and stair stringers get cut down to manageable pieces. Then a Yanmar SV40 mini-excavator with a thumb attachment pops each concrete footing out of the ground in one piece. The void gets backfilled with clean soil and tamped flat. Your yard finishes at grade, not with concrete stumps poking through the lawn.
The other half of the job is disposal. Pressure-treated lumber cannot go in a regular dumpster in Ontario. It has to go to a certified facility because of the copper-based preservatives. Concrete footings have to go separately. We sort the load on site, haul it in our own trucks, and hand you the receipts. No “we left it in a pile out back” surprises.
If the deck is wrapped around a hot tub, attached to the house with a ledger, or has wiring and gas lines running underneath for a BBQ, we work around all of it. Call 416-317-3090 and we will walk through the specifics of your build.
What’s Included in an OCM Deck Removal
- Saw cuts and disassembly: railings, boards, joists, ledger board, stair stringers, lattice skirting
- Ledger removal from the house, including patching the siding holes if you ask
- Concrete footing extraction: full pier pulled, not snapped off at grade
- Debris haul-away: pressure-treated lumber to certified disposal, concrete to a recycling facility, metal hardware to scrap
- Site grading: voids backfilled with clean fill, finished flat for sod, garden, or a new build
- Final cleanup: magnet sweep for screws and nails so the yard is safe for kids and pets
- Disposal receipts: copies of all tipping fees and facility intake records
Toronto Deck Removal Cost
A typical residential deck removal in Toronto runs $1,500 to $4,500. A small 10 x 12 ground-level deck with shallow footings sits at the low end. A 16 x 20 second-storey deck with deep concrete piers and a hot tub to dismantle is at the high end. The price moves with five variables:
- Deck size: square footage drives both labour and dumpster volume
- Footing depth and count: a deck with eight 6-foot piers takes longer than one with four 4-foot piers
- Material: composite is heavier per board than cedar, pressure-treated has stricter disposal rules
- Access: a wide driveway is cheap, a narrow side gate with a fence panel to remove is not
- Attached features: hot tubs, pergolas, built-in benches, and gas lines add scope
We quote a flat price in writing after a 20-minute site visit. No hourly billing surprises.
Do You Need a Permit to Remove a Deck in Toronto?
Most of the time, no. Toronto Building does not require a demolition permit for a residential deck removal where the deck is not part of the principal structure. If the deck ties into the house framing with a structural ledger, or comes out as part of a larger addition or basement walkout, the broader project permit covers it. For a big job, call 311 first. Interpretations shift, the call is free, and we will make it for you when we quote the work.
Timeline
Most residential decks come out in one to two working days. A 10 x 12 ground-level cedar deck with four footings runs a single day, crew of two, in and out by 4 pm. A 16 x 20 second-storey deck with eight deep piers, hot tub, and stairs runs two days, crew of three. Day one is disassembly and lumber haul. Day two is footing extraction, backfill, and final grade. Heavy rain pushes us a day. A wet load of pressure-treated lumber weighs more, which slows truck turnaround at the disposal facility.
Equipment We Bring and Access We Need
The footing pull is where the right machine matters. Our Yanmar SV40 mini-excavator handles most Toronto backyards. It needs about 6 feet of access width to reach the rear yard, so a single-car driveway or a wide gate works. For tighter laneway lots in the Annex, Leslieville, or Riverdale, we run a Vio17 micro-excavator that fits through a 39-inch gate with a one-inch buffer per side. A GEHL RT135 compact track loader hauls lumber and footings out of the yard to the truck. Honest specs upfront: if your gate is 36 inches, we hand-carry; if your only access is through the house, we will tell you that on the site visit before we book the job.
Why Toronto Homeowners Call OCM for Deck Removal
- $2M general liability coverage and fully insured crews. Your homeowner’s policy stays clean if something goes sideways.
- Owner-operated. The person who quotes the job runs the crew on site. No telephone-game between sales and labour.
- One contractor for the whole scope: demolition, disposal, grading, and new deck building if you are rebuilding.
- We work the whole GTA: Toronto core, Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, plus the 905 suburbs out to Burlington and Newmarket.
Service Area
OCM removes decks across Toronto and the broader GTA: Toronto, Etobicoke, Scarborough, North York, East York, York, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Oakville, Burlington, Aurora, Newmarket, and King City. If you are outside this list but inside the GTA, call 416-317-3090. We travel for the right job.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a permit to remove a deck in Toronto?
Usually no. Toronto Building does not require a demolition permit for a standard residential deck removal. If the deck is structurally tied into the house or being removed as part of a larger addition, the broader project permit covers it. A quick call to 311 confirms your specific case. We make that call on your behalf when we quote.
What factors change the price?
Five things: deck square footage, footing depth and count, material (composite is heavier, pressure-treated has stricter disposal rules), access width to the backyard, and attached features like a hot tub or pergola. A small ground-level cedar deck runs near $1,500. A two-storey deck with deep piers and a hot tub can hit $4,500. We give a flat written quote after a site visit, not an hourly rate.
Where does the old lumber go?
Pressure-treated lumber goes to a certified disposal facility because of copper-based preservatives. It cannot legally be burned or dumped with regular construction waste in Ontario. Cedar and composite go to wood recycling. Concrete footings go to a concrete recycling facility. Metal hardware goes to scrap. We sort on site and hand you the disposal receipts.
What about all the old screws and nails?
Last step on every job is a magnet sweep across the work area. We pull screws, nails, joist hangers, and any random metal that landed in the dirt during demolition. The yard is safe for kids and pets the same day we leave. If you have a dog that buries things, we recommend a second walk-through with you before we pack out.
Is removing a composite deck different from wood?
Yes. Composite boards are heavier per linear foot than cedar, so labour and disposal weight go up. They also do not snap the way wood does. You cut, not pry. Composite disposal is a different waste stream than pressure-treated, which actually simplifies sorting. Substructure under a composite deck is usually still wood, so the joists and posts come out the same way. Expect a modest price bump versus the same-size cedar deck, mostly driven by disposal weight.
Can you remove a hot tub sitting on the deck?
Yes. We drain it the night before, disconnect the electrical at the panel (or bring in a licensed electrician if it is hardwired), cut it into sections if it cannot come out whole, and haul it with the deck debris. Tubs with attached gas heaters need the gas line capped, so we coordinate with a licensed gas tech. The add-on cost depends on tub size, access, and whether gas or electrical needs a licensed disconnect. We price it on the site visit, not over the phone.
Will my yard be a mess after?
No. The final step is grading. Footing voids get backfilled with clean fill and tamped flat. The deck footprint finishes level with the surrounding yard, ready for sod, seed, a garden bed, or a new build. If you want topsoil and seed included, we quote it as an add-on. Ruts from equipment get raked out before we leave.
Are you replacing the deck or just removing it?
Either. Plenty of customers want the deck gone to expand the lawn, put in a patio, or open the yard up. Others are rebuilding. We do both removal and new deck building in Toronto, so the same crew can pull the old one and pour the new footings in one mobilization. Bundling cuts the mobilization cost versus hiring two separate contractors.
Get a Toronto Deck Removal Quote
Call 416-317-3090 or use our free quote page to book a Toronto site visit. We walk the yard, measure the deck, check access, and put a flat written number in your hands. Lead time runs one to two weeks outside the spring rush. Spring books up fast, so call early if you want the deck gone before patio season.
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