# Want to get rid of chain-link fence **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 8, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471 "2013-06-08T13:23:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/1 "2013-06-08T13:23:11Z")
Hi everyone, I recently purchased a house back in Dec. of last year and I really love it. It’s cozy, small, and fits my needs perfectly. The one thing I absolutely cannot stand about it is the backyard. At one point, the previous owner had an above-ground pool, and literally fenced it in against the back of the house with an unsightly steel gazebo and a mound of dirt with various decorative shrubs and the like. After cutting the grass so far this Spring/Summer, I have decided that I absolutely cannot stand the fence and anything inside it. The fence, gazebo, dirt mount, and any other decorative features have got to go. Anyway, my friends recommended that I take a picture of the fence and post an ad on Craigslist to see if anyone would come and dig it up for free (as they could then sell or use it at their leisure). I guess this works because the fencing material is sought after by people in those sort of trades? Any ideas on this? Should I put in the ad that they can take it for free as long as they rip it out themselves? Do you think I could get some money for it in addition to them pulling it out? Basically, it’s about 30-40 feet long, ~5 feet high and encompasses about 1/3 of my backyard (which makes cutting grass unnecessarily irritating). It’s in good condition. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/2 "2013-06-08T13:45:15Z")
From what I’m seeing on my local craislist, people are selling used chain link fences for about $3 - 4/foot, but it’s already uninstalled. If you’re going to ask them to uninstall it themselves, I’d at least halve that. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/3 "2013-06-08T13:47:46Z")
Yep, give that a try. Fencing is damned expensive, and if I needed to fence my yard I’s definitely do some serious manual labor for free fence. You may want to incorporate some wording though that gives a time limit for the removal or it will be passed on to someone else - a first takes it gets t sort of thing. Otherwise you may be looking at it longer than you wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/4 "2013-06-08T14:05:15Z")
Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I’m probably going to just let them take it. It’s a gain for me just getting rid of it, so I don’t need what would likely be very little net gain. There’s no RUSH on removing it, I guess. You are right in that I don’t want someone to come and do a pole per day and be in or around my yard for two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/5 "2013-06-08T15:56:54Z")
UPDATE: Wow, I can’t beat these people away with a stick. I made the post and I’ve gotten about 7-8 replies in an hour. I should definitely up the ante to include removing the ENTIRE thing (including the concrete in the ground). I’m pretty sure a few of them say they’d do that already. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/6 "2013-06-08T17:30:45Z")
Quick question to consider before having the fence actually taken down: Is the pool still there? If it is, and has water in it, that fence may actually be required by law. If not - sorry I missed that part, and good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/7 "2013-06-08T17:43:06Z")
I’d make sure that anyone who plans to take the poles is going to take the concrete out of the ground as well. The problem is (if they’re just going to junk it) if they just cut it off at the ground, it’s going to be a lot harder for you to get the concrete out without anything for you to grab onto to rock it back and forth/loosen it/pull it up with. If all you have is concrete, you’re going to have to dig all the way around it so you can grab the bottom, and it’s still probably going to take two people. With the pole still in it, you can do it by yourself (or at least have a better chance of doing it by yourself). ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/8 "2013-06-08T18:22:29Z")
Moving to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/9 "2013-06-10T13:55:16Z")
Just an update to this: The folks came and removed the poles (concrete and all) and also they are taking a LOT of the decorative crap in the backyard that I have no use for. He pulled out the poles with his truck after removing all the fencing itself. A few of them were tempermental and even broke out of the concrete inside the ground, but we got most of the pieces out. Gonna rent a rototiller and plant the new grass soon =) Looks much better now! One step in the process towards making that entire section nothing but easily mowed grass. (Also, no pool. It was removed a long time ago I guess). ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/10 "2013-06-10T14:25:45Z")
Good outcome! Now you have a clean slate. I was amazed when the guy across the street sold his oleanders on Craigslist. They dug them up and paid him for them. _Oleanders!_ ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/11 "2013-06-10T14:25:45Z")
Wow, that’s a fantastic outcome! I’d never have thought people would come and dig shit out of the ground just for some fence you don’t want. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/12 "2013-06-10T17:29:35Z")
My back yard is fenced in with an old Sears chain link fence. I considered that a plus when buying the property. Different strokes different folks I guess. Plus metal is pretty valuable these days, not sure how much a new chain link fence would cost but it’s probably surprisingly expensive. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/13 "2013-06-10T22:18:03Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > My back yard is fenced in with an old Sears chain link fence. I considered that a plus when buying the property. Different strokes different folks I guess. It sounds his whole back yard isn’t fenced in, just the part with the pool. Not really the same. ---
**Author:** ![elninost0rm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ed655f/32.png) [@elninost0rm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elninost0rm)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/14 "2013-06-11T12:11:11Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > It sounds his whole back yard isn’t fenced in, just the part with the pool. Not really the same. Exactly. If the fence covered the entire backyard perimeter, I would have never touched it. It just covered an annoying portion of the backyard which caused him to jam every conceivable decorative object inside the fence as time went on. I’m fairly low-maintenance, and trimming/cutting inside there has proven to be a total bitch. Fence is totally gone, and they are coming back on Sat. to pick up even more stuff. A few weekend days of tilling and grass planting and it’ll look as good as new. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/15 "2013-06-14T04:58:59Z")
How’s your insurance? Inviting strangers to used cutting tools on uneven ground on your property is not one of those tings which give insurance agents warm and fuzzies. A simple angle grinder can cut the fencing loose, allowing it to be rolled up and placed where the buyer can get it easily and safely. Offer the various poles as “take 'em if you want 'em” - they unbolt. You’ll probably be left with the fence posts - esp. if set in concrete…If so, angle grinder with cut-off blade - take it right at ground level - no stubs to trip over ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-get-rid-of-chain-link-fence/660471/16 "2013-06-14T05:23:07Z")
That’s a cool thing… post online, eco-recycle from me to you, etc… All good.