The spa that hasn't been filled in three years, gone — drained, disconnected at the pad, cut down on site and carried out through the side gate for a flat $434. No city program on earth will take a 600-pound shell, and most haulers won't even quote one without driving out first. We price it from a photo. No Arizona sales tax on the service.
Send a photo of the tub and the side gate — exact price back in seconds
Upload a Photo & Get Quote →No. Not the city, not the suburb, not under any program that exists.
The City of Phoenix bulk collection program — the city's own term is "uncontained trash" — is appointment-based, capped at a maximum of four collections per calendar year, booked up to three business days in advance, with items set out no more than seven days ahead of the collection. That program is built for the couch, the mattress, the busted patio set and the pile of branches after a monsoon. It is not built for a 600-pound acrylic-and-fiberglass spa shell wrapped in closed-cell foam, sitting on a concrete pad, still plumbed and still hard-wired to a 240-volt disconnect.
And there is no clever workaround, because the failure happens before the truck is even relevant: you cannot get the tub to the curb. A filled-in-place spa in a backyard behind a 36-inch side gate does not move without being cut apart first. Even if you somehow got it out front, you would then be storing a demolished spa on your street frontage for days — in a metro where HOA covenants in Chandler, Gilbert, Peoria, North Scottsdale, Ahwatukee, Surprise and Anthem fine residents for bulk staged outside the permitted window.
This is the cleanest example in the Valley of a job the municipal system genuinely cannot help you with. Suburban cities — Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Peoria — each run their own bulk schedules with their own caps and exclusions, and we are not going to guess at yours; check your city's own solid-waste page, and for City of Phoenix rules go to Phoenix Public Works at phoenix.gov, which is the only source that stays current.
The tub, the side gate, and the path from the pad to the driveway. That is everything we need to confirm the flat price and how we're getting it out.
Your electrician disconnects the 240V circuit before we arrive — the one part of this that isn't ours. Then we book the window, early morning in summer.
We drain it, break the plumbing at the pad, cut the shell into gate-width sections, protect the pavers on the way out, and take it all.
One flat number for the spa: $434. That is not an hourly rate, not "starting at," and not a figure that changes once a crew is standing in your backyard. It covers draining, disconnecting at the pad, cutting the shell down, carrying it out and disposing of it.
| Job | Flat price |
|---|---|
| Hot tub / spa — cut down and hauled | $434 |
| Deck teardown or yard debris around the spa — quarter truck | $325 |
| Deck teardown or yard debris — half truck | $580 |
| Deck teardown or yard debris — three-quarter truck | $790 |
| Deck teardown or yard debris — full truck | $985 |
| Construction & demo debris, by volume | $162 / cubic yard |
$75 minimum on small single pickups. Disposal is included. Arizona does not tax the junk-removal service, so the quote is the total.
While we're in the backyard or the garage, the other heavy things nobody else wants to touch price flat too: pool table $812, upright piano $390, grand piano $590, large safe $273. Send them in the same photo and they price together.
For outside context: 2026 market surveys put the average metro Phoenix junk-removal job around $226–$237, but a spa is precisely the job that average excludes. Junk King prices by truck fraction in a published range of roughly $389–$658+. 1-800-GOT-JUNK won't give you a number until an on-site estimate — an especially poor fit for a job most people want priced before anyone drives out, and the reason a flat photo quote matters more here than on any other item we haul.
| Option | Cost | Speed | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Phoenix bulk appointment | — | — | Not an option. The 4-a-year uncontained-trash program was never designed for a 600-lb plumbed spa, and you can't get it to the curb anyway |
| Sell it or give it away | Free (or you're paid) | Weeks | Only works if it actually runs, and the buyer has to arrange and pay for the crew or crane — most listings sit and then fall through |
| Hire a demolition contractor | Hourly | Days to schedule | Priced by the hour with no ceiling, and they commonly break it apart and leave the debris pile for you to deal with |
| Cut it up and self-haul | Truck rental + $55/ton gate rate | A full weekend | You're doing the sawzall work yourself, and SR-85 Landfill is City-owned and not open to the public — it's a 27th Avenue or North Gateway transfer-station run, in the heat |
| JunkRabbit | $434 flat | Usually same week, often same day | None — drained, disconnected at the pad, cut down, carried out the side gate, disposal included |
One honest exclusion: we don't cut the electrical. See the access section below.
We'd rather tell you the truth than a green story. The acrylic shell and the closed-cell foam insulation are not recyclable — no facility in the Valley takes them for reuse, and they go to disposal at a City of Phoenix transfer station. Anyone who tells you your spa gets "fully recycled" is describing something that doesn't exist.
What is real diversion, we do: the steel frame, the pump motor, the heater element and assembly, and the copper all go to metal recycling, which on a full-size tub is a meaningful share of the weight. Cabinet lumber and any redwood or cedar surround is separated from the mixed load. If the cover is in decent shape and the tub was working when you shut it down, we'll tell you before we cut — a running spa is occasionally worth listing rather than demolishing, and we'd rather say so than take the job twice.
Gate width decides the method. Almost every Valley backyard opens through a side gate between the house and the block wall, typically 36 to 48 inches. A hot tub is 7 to 8 feet across. So the question is never "will it fit" — it's how many cuts. We cut the shell down on site into gate-width sections and walk it out, which is why this is a flat $434 rather than a crane quote. Craning a spa over a house is a specialty operation with a specialty invoice; we very rarely need one, and if your yard is genuinely landlocked we'll tell you that from the photos instead of after we arrive.
Pads, pavers and the pool deck. Most Valley spas sit on a poured pad, a paver field or the coping edge of a pool deck. We lay protection on the path out and we don't drag shell sections across travertine or flagstone. The pad itself stays unless you want it broken up — that's demo debris and it prices as construction debris at $162 per cubic yard.
The electrical is not our work, and we'll say so plainly. A spa is hard-wired to a 240-volt GFCI disconnect. The homeowner's licensed electrician must disconnect it before we arrive. We're a removal crew; we don't cut live conductors, and any hauler who offers to is doing something they shouldn't. Once the circuit is dead we handle everything downstream of it — the drain, the plumbing break at the pad, the cut-down, the carry-out.
Gates and guards. North Scottsdale (DC Ranch, Grayhawk, Silverleaf, Troon), Paradise Valley and Anthem mean vendor check-in at a guard gate, and in PV it also means discretion — quiet crews, protected landscape, in and out. We schedule the check-in ahead so the truck isn't sitting at the gate while your neighbors drive past.
The heat is a scheduling fact. This is heavy outdoor demolition work with a saw, in a backyard, with no shade. From June through September, when the Valley runs past 110°F, we push spa jobs into early-morning windows — crew safety first, and it's a better morning for you too. Same flat price whatever the season.
"Four companies wouldn't even quote the tub over the phone. These guys gave me a flat number off a photo of the gate, showed up at 6:30 to beat the heat, and cut it down in about ninety minutes. Pavers untouched."
"Abandoned spa from the previous owners, plus the rotting deck around it. One price for both, gate check-in arranged ahead of time, and the backyard was clean enough to start the turf install the next day."
"They told me straight up that my electrician had to kill the circuit first and that the shell can't be recycled. Refreshing. Everything else they did, and the price never moved."
How much does hot tub removal cost in Phoenix?
$434 flat for the spa — drained, disconnected at the pad, cut down, carried out and disposed of. A deck teardown or the yard debris around it prices as truck-fill ($325 quarter / $580 half / $790 three-quarter / $985 full) or construction debris at $162 per cubic yard. $75 minimum, no Arizona sales tax on the service.
Will the city take it?
No. The 4-a-year appointment bulk program isn't built for a 600-lb plumbed spa, and you couldn't get it to the curb intact regardless. Suburbs run their own programs; none of them are a spa answer either. Check phoenix.gov Public Works for City of Phoenix rules.
Do you need a crane?
Almost never. We cut the shell into side-gate-width sections and walk it out. Send a photo of the gate and the path with your quote request.
Who handles the electrical?
Your licensed electrician, before we arrive. We don't cut live 240V conductors — that's the honest limit of what a removal crew should do. Everything after the circuit is dead is ours.
Can you take the deck and debris too?
Yes, in the same trip, priced as truck-fill or by the cubic yard. One photo, one combined number.
Is the tub recycled?
Partly, and we won't overclaim. Steel frame, pump motor, heater and copper go to metal recycling and cabinet lumber is separated; the acrylic shell and foam are not recyclable and go to a City of Phoenix transfer station.
How is this different from a traditional full-service hauler?
They price by truck volume after an on-site estimate — 1-800-GOT-JUNK won't quote before the visit, Junk King publishes roughly $389–$658+ by truck fraction. We give you $434 from a photo, before dispatch, disposal included.
No. The city's bulk trash program — officially uncontained trash — is appointment-based, capped at a maximum of four collections per calendar year, booked up to three business days out with items set out no more than seven days ahead. None of that applies to a 600-pound acrylic and fiberglass spa shell that is still plumbed and wired to a concrete pad. There is no version of this where the tub goes to the curb intact. Suburban cities run their own bulk programs with their own rules, and none of them are designed for a spa either — check your own city, and see phoenix.gov Public Works for the City of Phoenix specifics.
Almost never. We cut the shell down on site into sections that fit through your side gate, which is why the price is a flat $434 instead of a crane bill. The gate width and the path from the pad to the driveway are the whole job — send a photo of both along with the tub and we will tell you up front how we are getting it out.
You do, through your own licensed electrician, before we arrive. A spa is hard-wired to a 240-volt GFCI disconnect and we are a removal crew, not electricians — cutting live conductors is not our work and we will not pretend otherwise. Once the circuit is dead and the disconnect is handled, we drain the tub, break the plumbing at the pad, cut the shell down and haul everything.
Yes. Old spa surrounds, pergola posts, decking lumber, pavers pulled up with the pad and the pile of yard debris that accumulated behind the tub all go in the same trip. That portion prices as truck-fill — $325 for a quarter truck, $580 for a half, $790 for three quarters, $985 full — or as construction debris at $162 per cubic yard, whichever fits the load better. One photo, one combined number.
Honest answer: the acrylic shell and the foam insulation are not recyclable and go to disposal at a City of Phoenix transfer station. What we do divert is real — the steel frame, the pump motor, the heater assembly and the copper go to metal recycling, and the cabinet lumber is separated out. Nobody can recycle a spa shell, and any company telling you otherwise is selling you something.