Swing Sets and Backyard Play Equipment, by Type

Kids outgrow these well before the lumber or steel gives out, so most of what comes down is still bolted tight. Wood, steel and molded plastic each come apart their own way.

Large weathered wooden playset with a fort deck, green plastic slide and swing beam in a backyard, the canvas roof torn

Wooden playsets

A wooden playset is a small building: pressure-treated 4x6 posts held with lag bolts, a deck, a slide, a climbing wall, sometimes a roof. Rusted lags often won't turn, so the crew cuts through them with a reciprocating saw. Once it's down, the pile is two to four vehicle loads of treated lumber, plus the plastic slide and swing hardware. Treated wood can't be burned in North Carolina and isn't accepted at the county yard waste sites; it goes with construction debris.

Rusted metal A-frame swing set with faded plastic seats and a tilted glider on patchy grass

Metal swing sets

The classic steel A-frame comes apart with a socket set, a wrench and penetrating oil for the rusted bolts. It's light, one load once it's apart, and the tubing is scrap steel. Legs may be held with ground stakes or set in concrete. Ask whether the hauler will credit the scrap; scrap metal pickup covers loose metal on the same trip.

Old round trampoline with a sun-faded mat, torn safety net and bent enclosure poles in a fenced backyard

Trampolines

Trampoline weight goes up with size:

8 to 10 feet: about 60 to 80 pounds
12 feet: about 100 pounds
14 to 15 feet: 130 to 150 pounds, with 80 to 100 or more springs

Disassembly takes one to two hours: net and poles first, then the springs, mat and frame. Scrap yards take the steel frame but typically not the mat, foam padding or springs, so those go in the truck as trash.

Small wooden backyard playhouse with a peeling painted door and a molded plastic playhouse beside it

Playhouses and forts

A wooden playhouse is closer to a small shed than to a swing set: framed walls, a floor and a shingled or plywood roof. Molded plastic playhouses unclip into panels and are bulky rather than heavy. Tree forts need extra care where they are bolted to a living tree; ask that the bolts be cut flush rather than ripped out of the trunk. A playhouse big enough to store tools in may be better handled as a shed removal.

Gloved worker carrying an old wooden kitchen chair down brick porch steps toward a white pickup with another chair in the bed

Why Winston-Salem homeowners call Winston-Salem Junk Co.

Your request goes to a single independent hauler
Hear the all-in figure before anything is carried out
Calling is free; the hauler bills only the job you OK
Mention stairs, a gate code or a hot tub when you call

What Makes a Playset Job Bigger

Concrete legs
Most wooden sets have their legs set in concrete. The plugs can be dug out and hauled, or broken up in the hole and buried. Decide before the quote.
Add-ons
A clubhouse or rock wall pushes the job past the 3 to 6 hours a plain wooden set takes.
Rubber mulch and sand
Play-area fill under the set isn't part of the structure. Say if you want it gone too.
Gate width
Long beams and deck sections need a clear path to the truck.
Free routes
A set in good condition can be listed free for a family willing to take it down themselves. Metal frames are the easiest to give or scrap.

See above-ground pool removal for the other big backyard item families retire.

Swing Set Removal in Winston-Salem, NC

Get a free junk removal estimate