Hot Tub Removal in Dothan, AL
The spa that has not been heated in four years, sitting on the patio full of rainwater and leaves. The crew takes it apart where it stands and carries every piece out.
The Hardest Thing in the Backyard
Hot tub removal is the heaviest, most awkward job we do at a house. A six or seven foot spa has about the footprint of a small car, weighs several hundred pounds empty, and was usually set in place before the fence, the deck or the screened porch existed. It did not come in through the gate and it will not go out through it.
That is the shape of the job. A hot tub almost always has to be cut apart where it sits and carried out in pieces. People expect a crew to tip it on edge and roll it down the driveway. Occasionally that works. More often the tub is wider than the only opening, and the choice is a saw or a crane.
What comes out
- The acrylic and fiberglass shell, cut into panels that fit through the gate
- The cabinet skirt and the pressure treated frame underneath it
- Spray foam insulation packed around the plumbing, which is the messy part
- The pump, heater, blower and control pack, mostly metal, which goes to scrap
- The cover and cover lifter, including covers that have soaked up water
- Steps, surround rails and the composite pad the tub sits on
- Everything that ends up on the ground while it is coming apart
Get a Free Hot Tub Removal Quote
Send a photo of the tub and one of the route out, including the gate. Tell us whether it is drained and disconnected. A clear price comes back.
- Free, no-obligation estimate
- Cut apart on site and carried out
- Shell, frame, cover and pump all go
- Pad raked and swept before we leave
Your request goes to an independent local hauler, who contacts you with a quote. Junk Pickup Dothan does not do the hauling itself.
Two Things You Have To Do First
Two jobs belong to you before the crew arrives, and both matter.
1. Drain it
A full spa holds several hundred gallons. Water weighs a little over eight pounds a gallon, so a filled tub carries more than a ton and a half and no version of this job starts with it in there. Draining is yours because it takes hours, not minutes.
Most tubs have a drain valve at the base of the cabinet that takes a garden hose. Gravity is slow. A submersible pump dropped in the footwell is far faster and worth renting. Send the water where it will not do damage: away from the house and foundation, away from a septic field, not into the yard next door. If it has been treated recently, keep it out of a storm drain and give the chlorine a few days to fall off before it goes on grass. The last few inches have to be bailed out. Do it anyway, or the crew is lifting panels full of standing water.
2. Have the power disconnected
Most hot tubs are hard wired to a 240 volt circuit through a disconnect box on a nearby wall or post. That is electrical work and it needs a licensed electrician. We do not disconnect wiring and we will not cut a live feed. Flipping the breaker is not the same as being disconnected, and a spa still wired in is a job we have to leave.
A plug in model on a standard outlet you simply unplug. If you are not sure which you have, look for conduit running to the cabinet. Conduit means an electrician.
Access Decides Everything
The biggest factor in a hot tub removal is how the pieces get from the back yard to the truck. A standard gate is around three feet wide. A hot tub is commonly seven or eight feet across. Those numbers do not resolve themselves.
| What we look at | Why |
|---|---|
| Gate width and fence height | Decides how small the shell is cut and whether panels go over or through |
| Deck or patio | A tub sunk into a deck means decking comes up around it first |
| Steps and slope | Carrying cut panels down steps is slower and needs more hands |
| Carry distance | Twenty feet from the driveway is a different job from the far end of a long yard |
| Screened porch or sunroom | Often the tub predates the enclosure, which limits the exit entirely |
| Overhead lines and limbs | Matters if anything has to be lifted rather than carried |
On an open patio with a wide side gate, a tub sometimes comes out whole on a dolly. Inside a fenced yard behind a hedge, it comes out as a stack of cut panels. We work out which from your photos before anybody shows up with a saw.
How the Teardown Actually Goes
The skirt comes off first, exposing the frame, the plumbing and the foam. The equipment bay is stripped next so the pump, heater and control pack go with the metal. Then the shell gets cut, usually into four to eight sections depending on how narrow the exit is. Cutting fiberglass and foam makes dust and small debris that lands in the grass. Raking and sweeping the pad afterward is part of the job.
The cover deserves its own note. One that has sat outside for years absorbs water through the vinyl and gets far heavier than it looks. It goes with the rest.
What is left is the pad and whatever the tub was hiding. Concrete pads and pavers stay put, since breaking up concrete is a different trade with a different disposal route. Expect a pale rectangle of ground, and expect the pad to be less level than it looked.
What Moves the Price
Two spas the same size can be an hour apart in labor depending on the yard. Size and weight, whether it can roll out or has to be cut, gate width, carry distance, steps, deck work and how much debris the teardown makes are what count. A tub already drained and disconnected is a shorter job, and the quote reflects that.
A hot tub is rarely the only thing going. Patio furniture, a grill, fence panels and the deck boards that came up around it can ride on the same load. Brush is covered on the yard debris removal page, and if this is part of clearing a property, see cleanouts. People sometimes weigh this against a container in the driveway, which we go through on the dumpster rental alternative page.
We cover Dothan, Houston County and the surrounding Wiregrass. Send photos of the tub and the way out, say whether it is drained, and use the form above or the contact page.
Hot Tub Removal Questions
Do I have to drain the hot tub myself?
Yes. It holds several hundred gallons and draining takes hours, so it has to be done before the visit. A submersible pump beats the gravity drain valve. Bail out the last inches too.
Will you disconnect the electrical?
No. A hard wired 240 volt spa needs a licensed electrician. Turning off the breaker is not the same thing. A plug in model you simply unplug.
Does the tub have to be cut into pieces?
Usually. Most spas are wider than the gate they have to pass through, so the shell gets cut into panels. With a genuinely wide open route it can come out whole.
What happens to the pad it was sitting on?
Concrete pads and pavers stay. Breaking up concrete is a different trade. The crew rakes and sweeps the area before leaving.
Can you take the deck around it too?
Boards lifted to free the tub get hauled away too. Taking down a whole standing deck is separate work, but once it is down the debris is ours to haul.
Where does the drained water go?
Away from the house, the foundation and any septic field, and not into the yard next door. Stop adding chemicals ahead of time and keep treated water out of a storm drain.
Ready for a free quote?
Takes about a minute. No obligation, no pressure.