Most calls about an old spa start with the same two questions: what will it cost, and how long will it take? Both answers depend on a few things you control before anyone shows up, so this short post covers those first.
First: power, water, photos
Three jobs sit with you, and they're the same whether you hire us or someone else.
- Power. Power must be off before we arrive. If your spa is hardwired, have an electrician disconnect it first.
- Water. Drain it if you can; if not, tell us and we'll plan for it. When you drain, follow LA County Public Works' advice: give the chemicals time to dissipate, skip draining for 5 days after dosing, and never backwash the filter into the street or a storm drain.[1] Whatever reaches a storm drain flows untreated to creeks and the ocean.[1]
- Photos. Take one of the spa and one of the route out to the street, with every gate, step and slope in frame. That second photo does more to set the price than the first.
What sets the price
Pricing is based on how much truck space your items take up, plus labor. Free photo quotes by text: send photos and get an exact price. For a spa, that means two things: how big the tub is, which decides how much truck it fills, and how hard the carry is, which decides the labor. A four-seater a few steps from the driveway is a lighter job than the same tub behind the house at the bottom of a stairway. Loading, hauling, disposal and sweep-up are included.
For published market ranges (hot tubs included) and what drives cost in the Valley, see how much junk removal costs in the San Fernando Valley.
We don't publish a flat hot tub price because the route matters too much. If you're comparing against doing it yourself, the hot tub guide lays out the landfill fees and the tools involved.
Ricardo and his team were very professional and very prompt in removing my old spa at a very reasonable cost. They chopped the shell into small parts and quickly carted them away. They even finished by sweeping up the remaining debris. Highly recommend them for your junk removal.
How long it takes
Two separate clocks run here: how soon we can come, and how long the crew is on site.
Getting on the schedule. Same-day service most days when you reach us by early afternoon; next-morning slots are common. Alison C. wrote on Yelp that Legacy "scheduled us the next morning" after another team had stopped halfway through their spa job.
Time in the yard. A spa rarely leaves in one piece; as Steve H.'s review above puts it, the shell gets chopped "into small parts" and carted off, and the debris gets swept up at the end. The carry is where the time goes, so a short, flat route is the quick version and a long hillside stairway is the slow one. If your spa sits on a slope, our post on taking a hot tub out of a hillside backyard walks through that job step by step.
Legacy came thru. Prompt, professional and clean. Brian and Carlos were amazing. Removed my old spa and left everything clean. West Hills, CA needs people like Legacy! Call Ricardo
Clearing the route
The easiest way to shorten the job is to clear the path before the truck arrives. Unlock the gates, move planters, hoses and patio chairs, and give a neighbor a heads-up if the crew has to cross a shared side yard. The concrete pad under the tub is a separate question, so ask about it when you send photos if you want it gone too.
For the service details, see hot tub removal.