Hot Tub Removal in Boise: Can You Cut It Up Yourself?

Every spring somebody in the Treasure Valley watches a video of a guy cutting up a hot tub in one afternoon and thinks, I could do that. Honestly? You probably could. Plenty of folks handle their own hot tub removal in Boise with a reciprocating saw, a couple of friends and a borrowed trailer.

The video just leaves a few things out. I've cut apart enough of these to know where the afternoon turns into a weekend, so here's the straight version before you go buy blades.

What's actually inside an old spa

From the outside, a hot tub looks like a plastic box with wood siding. Pull the skirt off and it's a different story.

The shell is acrylic over fiberglass. Behind that, most tubs are packed with expanding spray foam, sometimes filling every gap between the shell and the cabinet. Buried in that foam are PVC lines, jets, a pump or two, a heater and a control box.

The frame holding it all up is usually wood. If the tub has sat on a Boise Bench patio for fifteen years, that wood is probably soft along the bottom.

The foam is the part nobody warns you about. It grabs the blade, gums up the teeth and comes off in sticky chunks that end up all over the yard.

One quick thought before you cut anything. If the tub still heats and holds water, try listing it for free first. Somebody out in Star or Middleton might come haul it off whole.

Cutting it up yourself: the gear and the mess

The tool everybody reaches for is a reciprocating saw with long demolition blades. Buy more than you think you need. Fiberglass dulls them fast and the foam finishes them off.

You'll also want a pry bar, a utility knife for the foam, heavy gloves and real eye protection. Not sunglasses.

Heads up: Cutting fiberglass throws fine, itchy dust that gets into everything. Wear a proper respirator, long sleeves and safety glasses, keep the wind at your back, and lay a tarp down before the first cut. Picking foam crumbs out of gravel and lawn afterward is a miserable job.

Before you start, the tub has to be drained and the power has to be dead at the disconnect. Most spas run on a 240-volt circuit, and that's not something to guess about. If you aren't sure the breaker you flipped is the right one, have an electrician check it and disconnect the wiring from the tub.

Then you work in sections. Pull the cabinet panels, cut the shell into pieces you can carry, and take the pump and heater out whole.

Figure on most of a day for a mid-size tub. Longer if it's a big six or seven seater, or if you're doing it alone.

Where the pieces go after DIY hot tub removal

This is where a lot of DIY jobs stall. You've got a pile of fiberglass, damp foam, rotten lumber and a couple of motors sitting in the side yard. Now what?

The shell and foam go to the dump. In Ada County that means the Ada County landfill or the Hidden Hollow transfer station, and you pay by weight. A cut-up spa isn't light, especially if the foam has soaked up water over the years, so expect a real fee and not pocket change. If you're in Nampa or Caldwell, Canyon County's landfill has its own rates.

The pump motors and heater are worth pulling out and taking to a scrap recycler. You won't get rich. It's just metal that doesn't need to go in a hole in the ground.

You'll also need something to haul it all in. A pickup bed might handle a small tub if you stack it carefully, but most people end up borrowing or renting a trailer. That adds a pickup and a drop-off to an already long day.

When paying for hot tub removal in Boise makes sense

Yes, I'd love your business. But honestly, doing it yourself is a fair call for some people.

If you already own the tools, have a truck and trailer, a free Saturday and a small tub sitting on an open patio, go for it. You'll save some money.

It tips the other way pretty quick, though. Big tubs. Tubs sunk into a deck. A tub in a Meridian backyard with one narrow side gate. Or tackling it by yourself in July, when it's pushing a hundred out and the fiberglass dust sticks to your sweat.

Same goes if you'd have to buy the saw, the blades and the respirator, then rent a trailer, all for one job. Stack that up next to the dump fee and the savings get thin.

Then there's the part you can't put a number on. Is your weekend worth spending itchy?

When I do one, I cut it apart on site, load everything into the dump trailer, send the metal to recycling and rake up the foam bits before I leave. Usually that's a few hours, not a weekend.

Bottom line

Cutting up your own hot tub is doable. The hard parts aren't the cutting. They're the foam, the dust and getting rid of the pile afterward. Go in knowing that and you'll make the right call either way.

If you'd rather skip it, text a photo of the tub and the path out of your yard to (208) 391-0221. I'll send back a price, and it's usually gone within a couple of days.