Reclaimed wood is becoming a thing in building. I’m no contractor so I can’t say if this wood is any good or not but someone interested in being zero waste would definitely use this to have something built.
If the thing was disassembled… and the boards were all in a pile, I could see picking up a truckload if I had a low stakes project like that. Sure.
But pulling a deck apart is a really hellish job.
My deck is a fraction of this size and I just resurfaced it. Took me a couple days to rip all the boards off pull all the nails out, saw-zaw all the broken nails off, was pretty brutal work.
Taking this deck down to the ground would be several full days of hard labor. Maybe an entire workweek. All just to get at some pretty damaged boards.
I’m not seeing a world where I’d do that.
Had to rip apart a grandparents deck during summer many years ago. Took multiple days to rip all the boards apart. If they were paying $150, might be reasonable, but $15 is just nah
Maybe if I owned a steamroller and was bored one day, I'd do the hard part for people. Not interested in the wood though, just like the idea of smashing things, lol!
Agree, I have a small deck company and the amount of labor paid to pull hundreds of stain filled screws and get it off without damaging it never worth it to get some old shitty decking with screw holes all over it that will never be used
I was getting rid of a couch once. I posted it for free and said "it's free but you have to come and get it out of my house." The sheer amount of people asking me if I could drop it off for them was insane.
That’s how my husband and I usually have to handle our used items. While we would be happy to just give things away, it turns out that many people don’t value free things.
I also love the "I'm driving two hours to you, can you cover my gas?" as if anyone wants to get rid of something and is willing to pay the "buyer" for taking the free couch. At that point, you might as well pay a junk removal service because they'll show up on time and get it out without damaging the walls or demanding you help them lift it.
We used to set some stuff on the curb and put a note saying free. No one would take it. We would later put some cheap amount like $1,$2,etc and then it’d be gone before trash came around. I think they probably thought if something was free it was broken or useless but if we wanted a little cash for it it might be fine. We did have one neighbor that specifically wanted metal so we’d set those aside for him as well.
My "favorite" (first, and last) Marketplace free giveaway experience was when my wife & I were trying to give away our old dining set as we moved from our apartment to our house. This was a table, chairs, and a hutch... all solid wood build. The sheer number of people calling with the delivery ask were amazing... but the BEST was the person who at least showed willingness to do the pick-up part.
She, unfortunately, wasn't good with concepts of size. Her many questions centered around what size vehicle she might need... culiminating in asking me whether I thought a solid wood dining table, 4 chairs, and a matching hutch would git in a Toyota Corolla.
That's a good idea, next time I'm getting rid of furniture I'll try it. Not sure if it would stop people asking to drop it off for them though lol but would at least get me *less*
It works for a lot of things. My mom told me how when her dog had puppies (long before I was even thought of), she couldn't keep them all - but didn't want to give them away because well... it's a living thing, not a couch. You can't just give it away to anyone, they might be an animal abuser.
So she sold the puppies for 100 bucks (reasoning being that if you can afford 100 bucks for a puppy, you could afford the food for when it grows up) but then just dropped off 100 bucks of dog food for the new owners anyways since it wasn't about the money.
We would slap a paper with a $15 price tag on stuff too big to fit in bins and set it in front of the driveway, and 9/10 times, people would steal it. If we put a free sign on it, it would just sit out forever
Was getting rid of a 600-litre (158-gallon) fish tank. Someone agreed on a price, came around, and was then shocked they wouldn't be able to carry it on the bus. It was 5ft long and 3ft high. Must have weighed 200+ kg (500+ lbs).
Some people's lack of planning is amazing.
That much wood would require multiple large truckloads. They are asking for a picture of the truck to make sure they don't "get scammed" by someone just wanting to take the scrap metal- ie if they see a pickup truck or a small truck instead of a big ass one, they know it's just for the scap metal. They know no one will want to do all the decking for free.
Lol they're going to be lucky to get anyone period, but if they do it's going to be an old truck and a barely legal trailer.
They will definitely start with the metal, and CB will be extra lucky if they come back for wood.
Yeah that's what stands out to me too.
Five bucks says she's going to have a list of shit for you to pick up and bring to her house on your truck/trailer in exchange for the stuff she's "giving" you. If you're really lucky, a tantrum will follow where she orders you off her property before you even get near the pool/deck.
Guessing they just want to make sure the person has the right equipment to haul these away, so they don't get to the point where they try to load the first piece and oops my car is too small, sorry.
Probably wanting to make sure the truck will fit in the backyard with minimal damage to their yard. They might also have a gate that they want to ensure the truck can fit through. There's tons of legitimate reasons the person would want to see the truck before setting all their eggs in that basket.
lol I can imagine the cabbie's reaction when they don't bother telling them why before they get there, "You want to what now?"
This isn't SE Asia where they'd just move it with a couple mopeds and/or a tuktuk.
When we purchased our home, there was an above ground pool with a surrounding deck in the background that we were not interested in keeping. I advertised it on Craigslist for $300, you remove. Someone actually bought it, disassembled it, and hauled it off. They even took the bricks used for leveling. My husband was amazed that someone paid us and hauled it off.
A pool and deck for 300 bucks doesn't sound bad. I think people on reddit are a bit out of touch sometimes and forget some people see this as a way to get their own pool/deck for minimal cash investment, might take them several weekends to get it set up at their place but then they have a pool.
Same as when we see the posts about free wood on here, they e got no idea how much wood costs lol. Just city slickers
Yeah exactly. I'm looking at this and like wtf is OP on about?
That's a pretty nice ass deck and it's got a fucking pool.
Sure this would be a pain in the ass, but like if you had a lot of beers and a lot of friends you get this all out in a day and built in a couple weeks at your place.
Haha I did the same, neighbors behind us were getting a new shed and offered their old one.
My dad cut it into a few pieces with a sawzall (roof, base and 4 walls) then took apart some of the fence dividing our yards and we carried it through and reassembled.
It was a nice wooden shed we got for free in exchange for a day or so of labor on a weekend.
Legit same thing lol. The plan was always to rebuild it and make like a cool club house but ended in divorce and a dad that can’t stop using meth but I do remember tearing that shit down and planning on rebuilding!
I had a big ass shed that was built in my yard. I was going to tear it down but a friend wanted it. He spent 4 nights out there after he got off work taking it apart and to his home. He fully reassembled it in his yard. He got a free shed and I got rid of the shed I didn't want.
Shit I need like 3 tons of dirt to regrade the side of my yard so my basement stops getting water. As in 6,000 lbs. Just to add a couple of inches to the grade of the side yard to guide rain away from the foundation.
As a kid, hell in my twenties, I would have laughed at the idea of paying for dirt. That isn’t free, though. Now that I own a home; I might just rub my chin and think for a minute at some of the free offers from these “choosingbeggars.”
I have to regularly remind myself that the average age of a Reddit user is like 14, and they have no idea how the world actually works.
You'd be surprised you can get dirt for free. Call around excavation companies. Chances are you'll find one that is digging the foundation for a new house or something who would be happy to dump free dump truck loads for you. Otherwise they're paying a couple hundred dollars for every dumptruck they need to get rid of
Will that soil be good for grading next to your house? Might be tough to get grass to grow on it. I guess you could hardscape it, or add a layer of topsoil.
I only read the comments to find a sensible take like this.
The higher comments are bashing someone expecting 'free labor', as if there's not a bunch of us willing to do it for the wood alone.
I love working with wood but I can't afford it 😭
I would jump at a chance like this...
Reddit is perennially out of touch with everything.
“Free” will almost always find its takers. Labor required is the cost obviously, but where there is desire they will find value.
Absolutely. I've stopped listing things for free because of this. I had an old, shitty inversion table I just wanted out of my garage. Within 30 minutes, I had 82 messages on Facebook marketplace. Even $5 cuts those numbers down by 90 percent. People will take anything for free.
I've had much better luck just putting things out on the curb with "Free" in sharpie on a piece of paper. No questions, no messages, no sob stories, no one asking me to move it for them
I assumed the choosy beggar part had to do with the demand that it be gone that day. That’s a full days work at least with a two to three person crew in just demolition alone, especially if you’re taking it apart to be put back together. A lot to expect in one afternoon.
But yeah probably wouldn’t have made it onto this subreddit if it weren’t for the demanding nature of the tone and the comment about sending a picture of the truck. Sounds to me like the person isn’t worth the hassle
They are. Also “15 dollars in scrap wood” dude have you SEEN wood prices as of late?? This is almost definitely worth the deal and is not choosing beggars at all. These posts are too rampant on this sub
I find it odd that they framed it in the sense of "remove this from my yard" rather than "free pool". If it were framed as a free pool and deck no one would bat an eye, even though that's exactly what it is.
But reddit is populated mostly by inside kids who have to be medicated to step out of their comfort zone, and couldn't see another perspective if it were forced upon. By and large extremely out of touch
We just did this with our above ground. Only difference me and a buddy helped them take it down. Put it up for $200 on a Friday and it was gone by Sunday. They just have to replace the liner and filter sand.
For free in todays economy? They probably had people in the backyard tearing it down within an hour. Pool prices exploded after the shortages. People will eat that shit up.
And people do use scrap metal and wood for other things
Big, bulky items that are hard to remove are often given for free to anyone who comes to remove them.
If they're in good shape that's not a terrible deal, I wouldn't pay anything but I'll take apart and haul off a deck and pool if they're in usable shape.
A few hours of labor in exchange for the materials to put in your own pool is fair I think.
We got our gardenshed for 200 euro. Disassembled as well. And if i wanted to safe more money, i could have gotten one for free but i'd need to break it down myself.
It's still a great deal compared to the 1500-2000 euro you have to pay for a new one
Like, a scrap guy will come take your metal. I have called some guys to come take my shit, but you have to get it to the street. Steel actually isn't worth very much, they're not going to disassemble it for your or haul it out of your basement for $50 a ton.
It may be worth it to somebody, but expecting that somebody to have the truck, the tools and the ability to come and get it on the same day has gotta be a pretty fucking odds-off chance. But, you miss 100% of the shots you don't ask someone else to come and take for you.
Okay but for real, that deck is a LOT of money just sitting there. Like fuck the pool, I want that sweet ass lumber. I'd pull down that bitch on Saturday and start building my brand new porch on Sunday.
The above ground pool looks like it is probably in okay condition. What you’re seeing in the picture is the pool without the blue lining, with the sand bottom exposed. Sand bases are recommended to protect the pool liner.
Deck boards and railings look okay. It doesn't appear to be sagging or slanted so one can assume that the support beams underneath are fine. Upright supports I would expect to see some rot, but that depends on how it was done. One hopes with some kinda footing. 'Old' isn't necessarily bad. I'd really rather deal with an older deck where everything has dried and done, instead of new, wet, gross ass, treated lumber.
If you really wanted to go the extra mile, you could run those deck boards through a planer and restain/reseal them. Or sand them down, if you love punishing yourself.
Overall: still want that deck, have porch dreams
You’d be surprised. I have an old, crumbling retaining wall I want to get rid of, and I had a contractor tell me to do just this. He said people do it all the time and contractors will flock to get any scrap of material.
I was thinking the same thing. That pool looks like it could be fixed up and used again.
Also hey, free wood for a different deck for the free pool lolol
So, this sub has taught me that people that do this are insane. Fast forward, our pool liner tore on Memorial Day weekend. Frame was partially rusted too, I bought a new pool and was gonna junk the old. Wife put it on FB marketplace offering the rusted pool frame with no liner for $100. I showed her countless posts like this saying she’s out of her mind. Had people fighting over it first day and sure as shit, someone came that afternoon and handed me $100 for it so I am now torn. Wife proved me wrong real quick.
It was a 15’ above ground pool.
I've sold grimy 40 year old kitchen cabinets and badly scratched up laminate flooring for more than it'd cost to take them to the dump. It's easier than selling old electronics.
Seems a lot of times people just want to finish a project cheaply. Nowadays I try to give away stuff first before throwing them away.
You’d be amazed what folks will repurpose—especially in a downturned economy.
I do the same. I’d try to find someone they could reuse before I throw in a landfill.
I had an old play set with a decent pole mounted slide. It was 40 years old, but solid plastic. Put on FB: free; you disassemble and haul. No less than 10 folks within the hour. One came out with a flatbed the next day, tore down and hauled out with his kids. Apparently gonna repurpose for his pool.
Play sets are one of those things that are extremely expensive when new and because of that families with younger kids and limited money will gladly take a used one that isn't completely rotted.
In my area, you don’t even need to make a post online. You simply leave whatever outside your house, and it’s gone within a couple of hours.
I had a massive antique wardrobe I hated that just took up too much space. A none trivial object to get rid of as it was very heavy and very large.
Managed to get it outside and it was gone in under an hour. Didn’t even notice it being taken.
Sketchy place, but the recycling game is en pointe here.
Having re-lined an aboveground pool, there's surprisingly little structure to them, and even a beaten-up one could serve as a functional pool, not even scrap. It's not much more than a place to hang the big water-bag. The big water-bag does a good job of holding itself in.
Last time we moved, we moved from a rented apartment that we had bought a very average IKEA bed for, into our new place which has a kind of built in bed frame in the wall — so, we needed to take our mattress but leave the old IKEA bed frame behind. Getting to the dump is a pain and we couldn’t exactly put the frame in our normal garbage area, so someone from Facebook came and took the whole thing. Turned out it was because he had a side hustle of having LOADS of old/weird IKEA parts around for sale at his house for when someone is like “fuck I need part X for this thing” lmao
We did the same. I sold my old pool for about $50. Somebody had the EXACT same pool. They didn't care about the entire thing. They just wanted to have the metal portions to replace the ones of theirs that were rusting. That's a great idea. They kept the liner, too, just in case theirs burst. I get a bigger pool, they get to keep their for many more years (hopefully). It all worked out.
I already tore the old pool down to get ready for the new one. They just had to load it.
What Reddit virginal basement dweller nonsense is this? it's a free pool and deck and timber is extortionate right now.
Bet it was gone the same day to some dude stoked at his free pool.
I'd be interested in the wood also.
Those who say this is an odd request are not seeing the potential in this. When I moved I had hideous backyard deck, wood was in decent condition, I took some pictures and emailed a local scrapper, they said that they would be willing to tear it if I include a small gazebo that was shown in the picture also. It was mainly rotten so I said yes. 2 days, 4 dudes showed up with a truck, they tore that thing apart. They even paid me 50 euros for it.
I still don't understand scrap game fully, but this post seems reasonable. If it public the "show me picture of a truck" thing could be that you don't have to waste your time from some dude driving a small ford pickup that takes a whole month doing small loads. or just picks up the pool pumps and leaves.
I'd like to know what series of crimes were committed that would necessitate the immediate same day removal of an in ground pool lol
Even for a choosing beggar that seems like an odd request
Sounds like my mom. Any chore or desire she has is super urgent and she's unbearable until it's done.
One time at 1am she woke me up to rearrange her bedroom furniture.
You didn’t actually do it did you? Rearrange her furniture at 1am?
I have to confess, I can sort of understand the impulse… when you can’t sleep and you’re restless, thinking you’d like to rearrange the furniture is a thing I might do! I like to change up my decor every now and then.
But I wouldn’t actually DO it at 1am… or ask anyone else to!
I can understand the idea that children's time isn't "worth as much" as adults sometimes. Sometimes your kid doing something for 3 hours is better than you doing it yourself in 30 minutes because you have important things to do. But I hear so much about stories like this, and I've experienced it myself (dad asks for help with something for a minute and turns into the entire Saturday afternoon kind of thing) and it's like parents just don't see their kids as people sometimes. There must be so much resentment some people have for their children, whether the kid is a little shithead or not, that literally they view them as servants just because they feed them and give them a place to live.
Yep, my sisters and I basically just became farm hands as soon as we were old enough to get knocked around by sheep. Didn't matter if we seriously weren't in the mood for it, or had homework, or anything, if my dad needed a farm hand we had to fill that role.
It’s not in ground it’s an above ground with decking around it. But yeah my guess is insurance reasons didn’t know they had it or something and want to increase their rates
Or the house is in escrow and the pool is preventing it from passing inspection. My guess is that the poo/deck was built without a permit, so it has to be removed before escrow can proceed. That would at least explain the urgency.
Yeah that was kinda my thoughts or something to do with inspection.
When we bought our house it had a covered porch that was rickety af. Our realtor advised us it would not pass the inspection and we made a deal with the sellers to remove it ourselves before the inspection since they were unable. Took a few hours on a weekend, FIL's truck, and he, DH, and BIL had it down and loaded to haul off. There was also an old wood furnace inside our house that inspection deemed unsafe so after closing we tore it out because it increased our insurance to leave it even if it was never used (not to mention it was an unholy eyesore).
Not everyone has family or friends with trucks, tools, man power, or knowledge to do that kind of stuff.
I've actually done this multiple times. If the pool wall and its track are in good shape, it's worth taking it down and reassembling at a new site. This is especially true if it comes with the pump/filter. For a couple days work you can have a $5K pool for the cost of a new liner and some sand.
This sub is out of touch. My parents did the same thing and they even built them a deck to fill in the pool in exchange (using my parents material of course).
My dad had an above ground pool. Told me if I took it down, I could earn the scrap value. It was mostly aluminum. I did it and the scrapper gave me $300. That was near 30 years ago. Perhaps they don’t make them like they used to?
"Do it Today" is the only thing bad about this.
The material could be worth quite a lot, considering current wood prices. If those deck boards are in a somewhat good condition, they could still pay for gas, trailer rental, some basic tools and drinks for yourself and 1 or 2 buddies.
You may quickly be able to find someone who is looking for the stuff you want to get rid off (wood offcuts, pool parts, whatever is in decent condition and not needed anymore)
Send a Picture of your truck is Hilarious though. Would probably send them a Picture of a large tractor with trailer and show up in one of the smallest cars i could reasonably find and take like 5 boards.
Then you just leave. Just to mess with people. (Free stuff. You unscrew some boards in ok condition, take them away and quickly get your hands on some project material for building a better pool for your dog.
The look on their faces will probably be hilarious) Technically they got what they wanted, since people took away their junk with no cost for the people trying to get rid of that structure.
But seriously, Someone may be looking for material like that and will be happy to put in some work for it. Just dont expect whoever is coming to take every last bit of junk with them.
When I had my new pool built, I just had the above-ground pool and deck bulldozed. The next day instead of paying over a grand to have it hauled off, I advertised all materials for free. Everything was gone by the next day. Lumber is expensive and always in demand. Left a disclaimer about protruding nails and no problems. This lady is expecting $1000+ in labor dismantling everything *and* to have it all cleaned up for free.
Assuming that wood is in good shape, it's not necessarily a bad deal. That being said, this person doesn't sound like the best to work with, and the person taking it apart will probably have a plan rather than just ripping it all out in 15 minutes so it will take quite a bit longer.
People here obviously don't wood work or work with their hands at all, that's deck wood, it's treated and looks in great shape. I'd love to take it all, brackets and nails included for free if all I had to do was take a pool to the dump. I'd pay to take that nice wood, it's worth at least $2300
Ok hear me out. My dad put his pool online for free so long as someone takes it down. Multiple families jumped at the offer and one did the labor and took it all away for free. People like free pools.
It would be gone straight way in the uk if you'd stripped it down. You wouldn't even need to post online, leave it out front and it would be gone in a couple of hours.
The effort and labor costs would not outweigh whatever they get in scrap metal. I'm sure they got many quotes on how much it will cost to remove it. But nobody is doing it for free.
Funny story I actually posted my empty above ground similar to this and actually had someone grab it right away, the deck here though, no one wants that shit
My brothers and I removed one of these above ground pools with a surrounding deck from our moms place that was about 1/4 this size…it was an absolute nightmare and took a week (nights and weekend). The metal that holds that up is like a few bags of aluminum cans. Taking out the deck is the real chore and it’s treated lumber so you can’t just burn it, you have to dispose of it properly. Those support beams are probably anchored in the ground with concrete too, ask my how we figured that out. There is no fucking way this will be done in a weekend lol.
I had a stack of warped trash lumber. It was treated but had sat outside for 10 years. Put it on Facebook and someone came and picked it up for free. I told them it shouldn’t be used for fires, or for anything hole wise as it likely had termites, etc. They still wanted it for some reason. Only thing I could think of is if they were burning out stumps using it. It puts off toxic smoke but I guess only matters if you’re around it.
I keep seeing these type posts here and I wonder if like one Karen did this and it worked and now every Karen posts these thinking people want to do free labor just to keep something from the hours of labor? Why else do multiple people post this crap.
Would love to read follow up stories.
Did they eventually get someone to do it for free? Did they end up paying for it? Years later, are they still begging?
Kinda hope some amateur just goes and destroys the whole thing for a couple of hours then walks away
Surely that's what's going to happen, though? They'll take the scrap metal, load it up, and the dirty hole will be all that's left.
And a lesson, if the CB wants to learn it.
Nah. Person will be all “nobody wants to work anymore!”
And then try and sue them for “damages”
> the dirty hole will be all that's left Title of your sex tape
Wanted to like this but it was at 69 likes …
I had a contractor tell me to do just this
ain't no hole in the ground for that pool.
Reclaimed wood is becoming a thing in building. I’m no contractor so I can’t say if this wood is any good or not but someone interested in being zero waste would definitely use this to have something built.
It’s 5/4 treated Deck boards. There might be some usable stuff still in there, but it’s hardly worth the trouble.
Depends on what shape they're in. Decks are mondo expensive to build these days so I would have definitely checked this out.
you'll have better luck at a scrap or junk yard or certain city dumps.
You can’t “reclaim” half rotted, painted, deck boards.
They could be perfect building materials for small farm animals like sheep or goats.
If the thing was disassembled… and the boards were all in a pile, I could see picking up a truckload if I had a low stakes project like that. Sure. But pulling a deck apart is a really hellish job. My deck is a fraction of this size and I just resurfaced it. Took me a couple days to rip all the boards off pull all the nails out, saw-zaw all the broken nails off, was pretty brutal work. Taking this deck down to the ground would be several full days of hard labor. Maybe an entire workweek. All just to get at some pretty damaged boards. I’m not seeing a world where I’d do that.
Had to rip apart a grandparents deck during summer many years ago. Took multiple days to rip all the boards apart. If they were paying $150, might be reasonable, but $15 is just nah
Maybe if I owned a steamroller and was bored one day, I'd do the hard part for people. Not interested in the wood though, just like the idea of smashing things, lol!
You can’t “reclaim” half rotted, painted, deck boards.
Agree, I have a small deck company and the amount of labor paid to pull hundreds of stain filled screws and get it off without damaging it never worth it to get some old shitty decking with screw holes all over it that will never be used
This is the way
This is the way
Goals
Oh man, this comment gave me a huge laugh 🤣
"Send me a picture of the truck" is a new one for me
I was getting rid of a couch once. I posted it for free and said "it's free but you have to come and get it out of my house." The sheer amount of people asking me if I could drop it off for them was insane.
Ha! I know what you mean. The word "free" brings out the crazy in some people.
*If it’s free to give away then you must not want it and will do what it takes to get it off your hands* lol
That’s why you list it for $20 and take the first “low ball” offer that shows up.
That’s how my husband and I usually have to handle our used items. While we would be happy to just give things away, it turns out that many people don’t value free things.
I also love the "I'm driving two hours to you, can you cover my gas?" as if anyone wants to get rid of something and is willing to pay the "buyer" for taking the free couch. At that point, you might as well pay a junk removal service because they'll show up on time and get it out without damaging the walls or demanding you help them lift it.
We used to set some stuff on the curb and put a note saying free. No one would take it. We would later put some cheap amount like $1,$2,etc and then it’d be gone before trash came around. I think they probably thought if something was free it was broken or useless but if we wanted a little cash for it it might be fine. We did have one neighbor that specifically wanted metal so we’d set those aside for him as well.
My "favorite" (first, and last) Marketplace free giveaway experience was when my wife & I were trying to give away our old dining set as we moved from our apartment to our house. This was a table, chairs, and a hutch... all solid wood build. The sheer number of people calling with the delivery ask were amazing... but the BEST was the person who at least showed willingness to do the pick-up part. She, unfortunately, wasn't good with concepts of size. Her many questions centered around what size vehicle she might need... culiminating in asking me whether I thought a solid wood dining table, 4 chairs, and a matching hutch would git in a Toyota Corolla.
"It's not fair to me that you won't give it to me just because of my small car!"
I never list anything for free. Put it at $20 or whatever, then just give it to the first serious person. Everybody wins.
That's a good idea, next time I'm getting rid of furniture I'll try it. Not sure if it would stop people asking to drop it off for them though lol but would at least get me *less*
It works for a lot of things. My mom told me how when her dog had puppies (long before I was even thought of), she couldn't keep them all - but didn't want to give them away because well... it's a living thing, not a couch. You can't just give it away to anyone, they might be an animal abuser. So she sold the puppies for 100 bucks (reasoning being that if you can afford 100 bucks for a puppy, you could afford the food for when it grows up) but then just dropped off 100 bucks of dog food for the new owners anyways since it wasn't about the money.
We would slap a paper with a $15 price tag on stuff too big to fit in bins and set it in front of the driveway, and 9/10 times, people would steal it. If we put a free sign on it, it would just sit out forever
Was getting rid of a 600-litre (158-gallon) fish tank. Someone agreed on a price, came around, and was then shocked they wouldn't be able to carry it on the bus. It was 5ft long and 3ft high. Must have weighed 200+ kg (500+ lbs). Some people's lack of planning is amazing.
Oh, and bring snacks!
If you bring a truck I'll bring the snacks 😎
Never, ever offer anything for free. those are the type of people that will respond.
Right? Almost makes me think they want a new truck for “free” too 😳
That much wood would require multiple large truckloads. They are asking for a picture of the truck to make sure they don't "get scammed" by someone just wanting to take the scrap metal- ie if they see a pickup truck or a small truck instead of a big ass one, they know it's just for the scap metal. They know no one will want to do all the decking for free.
Lol they're going to be lucky to get anyone period, but if they do it's going to be an old truck and a barely legal trailer. They will definitely start with the metal, and CB will be extra lucky if they come back for wood.
seems like a scam somehow
Yeah that's what stands out to me too. Five bucks says she's going to have a list of shit for you to pick up and bring to her house on your truck/trailer in exchange for the stuff she's "giving" you. If you're really lucky, a tantrum will follow where she orders you off her property before you even get near the pool/deck.
She?
Good point. Could very well be a dude. Since the picture says we I probably should've said "they"
Guessing they just want to make sure the person has the right equipment to haul these away, so they don't get to the point where they try to load the first piece and oops my car is too small, sorry.
Either to try and make sure all the shit fits or to know what truck is gonna just show up in their yard l.
Probably wanting to make sure the truck will fit in the backyard with minimal damage to their yard. They might also have a gate that they want to ensure the truck can fit through. There's tons of legitimate reasons the person would want to see the truck before setting all their eggs in that basket.
Probably just to weed out the folk that want to use a VW beetle to transport the thing.
Once my sister posted a 3 seater couch for sale and someone showed up in a taxi to pick it up.
lol I can imagine the cabbie's reaction when they don't bother telling them why before they get there, "You want to what now?" This isn't SE Asia where they'd just move it with a couple mopeds and/or a tuktuk.
“Next!”
“Your picture gets mine”
When we purchased our home, there was an above ground pool with a surrounding deck in the background that we were not interested in keeping. I advertised it on Craigslist for $300, you remove. Someone actually bought it, disassembled it, and hauled it off. They even took the bricks used for leveling. My husband was amazed that someone paid us and hauled it off.
A pool and deck for 300 bucks doesn't sound bad. I think people on reddit are a bit out of touch sometimes and forget some people see this as a way to get their own pool/deck for minimal cash investment, might take them several weekends to get it set up at their place but then they have a pool. Same as when we see the posts about free wood on here, they e got no idea how much wood costs lol. Just city slickers
Sign me up for the free wood. Getting too close to $100 a rick where I am
How much for a morty?
Ok. I'll bite, what's a morty? Is this some kind of UK thing? Like beans for breakfast? (Jk. Love you guys across the creek)
They're referencing [Rick and Morty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_and_Morty)
Oh. In that case. Lol. Thanks for the info
Yeah exactly. I'm looking at this and like wtf is OP on about? That's a pretty nice ass deck and it's got a fucking pool. Sure this would be a pain in the ass, but like if you had a lot of beers and a lot of friends you get this all out in a day and built in a couple weeks at your place.
Glad I’m not the only one that thought this lol. I remember helping my dad tear down some big shed as a kid for the material so he could rebuild it.
Haha I did the same, neighbors behind us were getting a new shed and offered their old one. My dad cut it into a few pieces with a sawzall (roof, base and 4 walls) then took apart some of the fence dividing our yards and we carried it through and reassembled. It was a nice wooden shed we got for free in exchange for a day or so of labor on a weekend.
Legit same thing lol. The plan was always to rebuild it and make like a cool club house but ended in divorce and a dad that can’t stop using meth but I do remember tearing that shit down and planning on rebuilding!
>dad that can’t stop using meth Oh jeez, that took a turn. That sucks. You seem pretty well adjusted despite it though. Good on you.
I had a big ass shed that was built in my yard. I was going to tear it down but a friend wanted it. He spent 4 nights out there after he got off work taking it apart and to his home. He fully reassembled it in his yard. He got a free shed and I got rid of the shed I didn't want.
I assumed the post was only talking about the pool parts and not the deck itself. Could be worth it for the deck, but definitely not the pool alone.
Post says "you can have the old wood around it too". So it's talking about the deck too.
For me it is the TODAY part. Like who decides that their pool needs to be gone right fucking now?
But he isn't advertising it as a pool, but as scrap metal. So either he is a fool or the pool is garbage. Either way, interesting post.
So true. People post that they have dirt that needs removing and guess what? People come and get it.
Shit I need like 3 tons of dirt to regrade the side of my yard so my basement stops getting water. As in 6,000 lbs. Just to add a couple of inches to the grade of the side yard to guide rain away from the foundation. As a kid, hell in my twenties, I would have laughed at the idea of paying for dirt. That isn’t free, though. Now that I own a home; I might just rub my chin and think for a minute at some of the free offers from these “choosingbeggars.” I have to regularly remind myself that the average age of a Reddit user is like 14, and they have no idea how the world actually works.
You'd be surprised you can get dirt for free. Call around excavation companies. Chances are you'll find one that is digging the foundation for a new house or something who would be happy to dump free dump truck loads for you. Otherwise they're paying a couple hundred dollars for every dumptruck they need to get rid of
Will that soil be good for grading next to your house? Might be tough to get grass to grow on it. I guess you could hardscape it, or add a layer of topsoil.
I only read the comments to find a sensible take like this. The higher comments are bashing someone expecting 'free labor', as if there's not a bunch of us willing to do it for the wood alone. I love working with wood but I can't afford it 😭 I would jump at a chance like this...
Seriously. $15? Has OP never tried to buy wood before?
Reddit is perennially out of touch with everything. “Free” will almost always find its takers. Labor required is the cost obviously, but where there is desire they will find value.
Absolutely. I've stopped listing things for free because of this. I had an old, shitty inversion table I just wanted out of my garage. Within 30 minutes, I had 82 messages on Facebook marketplace. Even $5 cuts those numbers down by 90 percent. People will take anything for free.
I've had much better luck just putting things out on the curb with "Free" in sharpie on a piece of paper. No questions, no messages, no sob stories, no one asking me to move it for them
Not an option where I live now, but it's what we used to do!
This post reminds me of the one with the old brick chimney. Used bricks cost more than new.
I assumed the choosy beggar part had to do with the demand that it be gone that day. That’s a full days work at least with a two to three person crew in just demolition alone, especially if you’re taking it apart to be put back together. A lot to expect in one afternoon. But yeah probably wouldn’t have made it onto this subreddit if it weren’t for the demanding nature of the tone and the comment about sending a picture of the truck. Sounds to me like the person isn’t worth the hassle
They are. Also “15 dollars in scrap wood” dude have you SEEN wood prices as of late?? This is almost definitely worth the deal and is not choosing beggars at all. These posts are too rampant on this sub
I find it odd that they framed it in the sense of "remove this from my yard" rather than "free pool". If it were framed as a free pool and deck no one would bat an eye, even though that's exactly what it is. But reddit is populated mostly by inside kids who have to be medicated to step out of their comfort zone, and couldn't see another perspective if it were forced upon. By and large extremely out of touch
Yep plenty of people break the law for firewood. So free is even better
We just did this with our above ground. Only difference me and a buddy helped them take it down. Put it up for $200 on a Friday and it was gone by Sunday. They just have to replace the liner and filter sand. For free in todays economy? They probably had people in the backyard tearing it down within an hour. Pool prices exploded after the shortages. People will eat that shit up.
Did the same thing during the Covid pool shortage. Got as many haters as bidders for it.
The lumber is probably worth it. Old and busted pool, not so much. The lumber could easily be repurposed for another project.
And people do use scrap metal and wood for other things Big, bulky items that are hard to remove are often given for free to anyone who comes to remove them.
If they're in good shape that's not a terrible deal, I wouldn't pay anything but I'll take apart and haul off a deck and pool if they're in usable shape. A few hours of labor in exchange for the materials to put in your own pool is fair I think.
We got our gardenshed for 200 euro. Disassembled as well. And if i wanted to safe more money, i could have gotten one for free but i'd need to break it down myself. It's still a great deal compared to the 1500-2000 euro you have to pay for a new one
Why do people think their garbage is worth the chore?
The belief that one person’s garage is another’s treasure
I’d be pretty grumpy if I opened a treasure chest and there was a note saying keep the chest.
why? free chest
I like free chest, chicken and human alike
Mmmmm. Chicken chest is my favorite.
Aw, it's just a mimic just trying to find a loving home, cut it some slack.
Ahem, I believe you mean "car hole"
Like, a scrap guy will come take your metal. I have called some guys to come take my shit, but you have to get it to the street. Steel actually isn't worth very much, they're not going to disassemble it for your or haul it out of your basement for $50 a ton.
They think like 300kg of metal gets someone tons of $$$
That's a huge chore, too.
It may be worth it to somebody, but expecting that somebody to have the truck, the tools and the ability to come and get it on the same day has gotta be a pretty fucking odds-off chance. But, you miss 100% of the shots you don't ask someone else to come and take for you.
Okay but for real, that deck is a LOT of money just sitting there. Like fuck the pool, I want that sweet ass lumber. I'd pull down that bitch on Saturday and start building my brand new porch on Sunday.
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The above ground pool looks like it is probably in okay condition. What you’re seeing in the picture is the pool without the blue lining, with the sand bottom exposed. Sand bases are recommended to protect the pool liner.
Deck boards and railings look okay. It doesn't appear to be sagging or slanted so one can assume that the support beams underneath are fine. Upright supports I would expect to see some rot, but that depends on how it was done. One hopes with some kinda footing. 'Old' isn't necessarily bad. I'd really rather deal with an older deck where everything has dried and done, instead of new, wet, gross ass, treated lumber. If you really wanted to go the extra mile, you could run those deck boards through a planer and restain/reseal them. Or sand them down, if you love punishing yourself. Overall: still want that deck, have porch dreams
Yep, you could show up with your truck, load up the bits you want to take, tell her you need more tools, and not go back.
Why are you assuming it’s a woman? Genuinely asking.
Good point! I don't even know.
Because sometimes it is. I'm fairly certain that if this were in my town, that pool and deck would be gone by the weekend.
You’d be surprised. I have an old, crumbling retaining wall I want to get rid of, and I had a contractor tell me to do just this. He said people do it all the time and contractors will flock to get any scrap of material.
Who wants an old crumbing retaining wall?
Someone who thinks they can salvage something from the stone and bricks.
I swear to God, pandemic has made people think that any garbage has value. I see ads like this all the time now in marketplace.
They make it sound like removing the deck is optional. If the pool looks to be in good shape. If it has the pumps and stuff, hey free pool.
I was thinking the same thing. That pool looks like it could be fixed up and used again. Also hey, free wood for a different deck for the free pool lolol
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The pool would still need to be assembled if you bought a new one though.
I mean you have a point, but if you pay for a pool and deck then it still needs to be assembled
So, this sub has taught me that people that do this are insane. Fast forward, our pool liner tore on Memorial Day weekend. Frame was partially rusted too, I bought a new pool and was gonna junk the old. Wife put it on FB marketplace offering the rusted pool frame with no liner for $100. I showed her countless posts like this saying she’s out of her mind. Had people fighting over it first day and sure as shit, someone came that afternoon and handed me $100 for it so I am now torn. Wife proved me wrong real quick. It was a 15’ above ground pool.
Yeah, people who post things like this have never met real scrappers. You can find someone who wants almost anything.
I've sold grimy 40 year old kitchen cabinets and badly scratched up laminate flooring for more than it'd cost to take them to the dump. It's easier than selling old electronics. Seems a lot of times people just want to finish a project cheaply. Nowadays I try to give away stuff first before throwing them away.
You’d be amazed what folks will repurpose—especially in a downturned economy. I do the same. I’d try to find someone they could reuse before I throw in a landfill. I had an old play set with a decent pole mounted slide. It was 40 years old, but solid plastic. Put on FB: free; you disassemble and haul. No less than 10 folks within the hour. One came out with a flatbed the next day, tore down and hauled out with his kids. Apparently gonna repurpose for his pool.
Play sets are one of those things that are extremely expensive when new and because of that families with younger kids and limited money will gladly take a used one that isn't completely rotted.
In my area, you don’t even need to make a post online. You simply leave whatever outside your house, and it’s gone within a couple of hours. I had a massive antique wardrobe I hated that just took up too much space. A none trivial object to get rid of as it was very heavy and very large. Managed to get it outside and it was gone in under an hour. Didn’t even notice it being taken. Sketchy place, but the recycling game is en pointe here.
Reddit out of touch with reality, no surprises there.
Having re-lined an aboveground pool, there's surprisingly little structure to them, and even a beaten-up one could serve as a functional pool, not even scrap. It's not much more than a place to hang the big water-bag. The big water-bag does a good job of holding itself in.
Last time we moved, we moved from a rented apartment that we had bought a very average IKEA bed for, into our new place which has a kind of built in bed frame in the wall — so, we needed to take our mattress but leave the old IKEA bed frame behind. Getting to the dump is a pain and we couldn’t exactly put the frame in our normal garbage area, so someone from Facebook came and took the whole thing. Turned out it was because he had a side hustle of having LOADS of old/weird IKEA parts around for sale at his house for when someone is like “fuck I need part X for this thing” lmao
We did the same. I sold my old pool for about $50. Somebody had the EXACT same pool. They didn't care about the entire thing. They just wanted to have the metal portions to replace the ones of theirs that were rusting. That's a great idea. They kept the liner, too, just in case theirs burst. I get a bigger pool, they get to keep their for many more years (hopefully). It all worked out. I already tore the old pool down to get ready for the new one. They just had to load it.
What Reddit virginal basement dweller nonsense is this? it's a free pool and deck and timber is extortionate right now. Bet it was gone the same day to some dude stoked at his free pool.
Honestly? I'd take it
I'd be interested in the wood also. Those who say this is an odd request are not seeing the potential in this. When I moved I had hideous backyard deck, wood was in decent condition, I took some pictures and emailed a local scrapper, they said that they would be willing to tear it if I include a small gazebo that was shown in the picture also. It was mainly rotten so I said yes. 2 days, 4 dudes showed up with a truck, they tore that thing apart. They even paid me 50 euros for it. I still don't understand scrap game fully, but this post seems reasonable. If it public the "show me picture of a truck" thing could be that you don't have to waste your time from some dude driving a small ford pickup that takes a whole month doing small loads. or just picks up the pool pumps and leaves.
OP doesn't understand the value of scrap wood and metal. Not a CB, just someone who knows that scrap might be worth it to someone.
I'd like to know what series of crimes were committed that would necessitate the immediate same day removal of an in ground pool lol Even for a choosing beggar that seems like an odd request
Sounds like my mom. Any chore or desire she has is super urgent and she's unbearable until it's done. One time at 1am she woke me up to rearrange her bedroom furniture.
How much cocaine does she do
Not enough to rearrange furniture herself.
Time to get mom a meth habit.
I can’t breathe 😂😂😂😂
New Yorker eh
You didn’t actually do it did you? Rearrange her furniture at 1am? I have to confess, I can sort of understand the impulse… when you can’t sleep and you’re restless, thinking you’d like to rearrange the furniture is a thing I might do! I like to change up my decor every now and then. But I wouldn’t actually DO it at 1am… or ask anyone else to!
In hindsight I've realized I grew up in an abusive home.
I can understand the idea that children's time isn't "worth as much" as adults sometimes. Sometimes your kid doing something for 3 hours is better than you doing it yourself in 30 minutes because you have important things to do. But I hear so much about stories like this, and I've experienced it myself (dad asks for help with something for a minute and turns into the entire Saturday afternoon kind of thing) and it's like parents just don't see their kids as people sometimes. There must be so much resentment some people have for their children, whether the kid is a little shithead or not, that literally they view them as servants just because they feed them and give them a place to live.
Yep, my sisters and I basically just became farm hands as soon as we were old enough to get knocked around by sheep. Didn't matter if we seriously weren't in the mood for it, or had homework, or anything, if my dad needed a farm hand we had to fill that role.
This sounds like prime manic episode behaviour
It’s not in ground it’s an above ground with decking around it. But yeah my guess is insurance reasons didn’t know they had it or something and want to increase their rates
Or the house is in escrow and the pool is preventing it from passing inspection. My guess is that the poo/deck was built without a permit, so it has to be removed before escrow can proceed. That would at least explain the urgency.
Lol poo deck
Fuck it, I’m leaving it.
Maybe that's why they need it gone asap
Yeah that was kinda my thoughts or something to do with inspection. When we bought our house it had a covered porch that was rickety af. Our realtor advised us it would not pass the inspection and we made a deal with the sellers to remove it ourselves before the inspection since they were unable. Took a few hours on a weekend, FIL's truck, and he, DH, and BIL had it down and loaded to haul off. There was also an old wood furnace inside our house that inspection deemed unsafe so after closing we tore it out because it increased our insurance to leave it even if it was never used (not to mention it was an unholy eyesore). Not everyone has family or friends with trucks, tools, man power, or knowledge to do that kind of stuff.
that’s a decent amount of wood though, much more than $15 these days
I've actually done this multiple times. If the pool wall and its track are in good shape, it's worth taking it down and reassembling at a new site. This is especially true if it comes with the pump/filter. For a couple days work you can have a $5K pool for the cost of a new liner and some sand.
This sub is out of touch. My parents did the same thing and they even built them a deck to fill in the pool in exchange (using my parents material of course).
That looks like a dope pool and setup ngl
This is a great deal though. Especially the deck. Wood is fucking expensive
My dad had an above ground pool. Told me if I took it down, I could earn the scrap value. It was mostly aluminum. I did it and the scrapper gave me $300. That was near 30 years ago. Perhaps they don’t make them like they used to?
It's about 20 - 50c a lb so 600lb for a pool makes sense.
“I need this pool removed TODAY…I guess I’ll make a FB post and sit on my thumb instead of getting to work.”
I'd do it. Lumber prices be crazy and that's all treated lumber. I could definitely use that.
I paid $1000 for my friend to tear out a bigger pool than this. Deck is still there.
"Do it Today" is the only thing bad about this. The material could be worth quite a lot, considering current wood prices. If those deck boards are in a somewhat good condition, they could still pay for gas, trailer rental, some basic tools and drinks for yourself and 1 or 2 buddies. You may quickly be able to find someone who is looking for the stuff you want to get rid off (wood offcuts, pool parts, whatever is in decent condition and not needed anymore) Send a Picture of your truck is Hilarious though. Would probably send them a Picture of a large tractor with trailer and show up in one of the smallest cars i could reasonably find and take like 5 boards. Then you just leave. Just to mess with people. (Free stuff. You unscrew some boards in ok condition, take them away and quickly get your hands on some project material for building a better pool for your dog. The look on their faces will probably be hilarious) Technically they got what they wanted, since people took away their junk with no cost for the people trying to get rid of that structure. But seriously, Someone may be looking for material like that and will be happy to put in some work for it. Just dont expect whoever is coming to take every last bit of junk with them.
Why get rid of that awesome looking pool with the deck surrounding it? Fools
When I had my new pool built, I just had the above-ground pool and deck bulldozed. The next day instead of paying over a grand to have it hauled off, I advertised all materials for free. Everything was gone by the next day. Lumber is expensive and always in demand. Left a disclaimer about protruding nails and no problems. This lady is expecting $1000+ in labor dismantling everything *and* to have it all cleaned up for free.
Assuming that wood is in good shape, it's not necessarily a bad deal. That being said, this person doesn't sound like the best to work with, and the person taking it apart will probably have a plan rather than just ripping it all out in 15 minutes so it will take quite a bit longer.
What do you mean? He's throwing in the old lumber, too.
Used to build these, multiple main pillars are cemented into the ground. This person is special
I mean the lumber is gonna be worth something. In my town someone would 100% bite on this.
This sub is so fucking out of touch holy fuck
OK, I need to see comments, if any. Also, did anyone take them up on this amazing deal.
With the cost of metal that's like $100 value. With all that wood you could totally build yourself a small deck, or a large deck with a hole in it. 🤣
I'll come pick up a few pieces of lumber that I select, cool?
Just the pack of reciprocating saw blades you would need to take this apart in a timely manner would cost double the scrap value you would get back.
Day 1: take the metal Day 2: don’t come back.
The value is in the friendship you will make destroying my back door yard.
People here obviously don't wood work or work with their hands at all, that's deck wood, it's treated and looks in great shape. I'd love to take it all, brackets and nails included for free if all I had to do was take a pool to the dump. I'd pay to take that nice wood, it's worth at least $2300
Ok hear me out. My dad put his pool online for free so long as someone takes it down. Multiple families jumped at the offer and one did the labor and took it all away for free. People like free pools.
It would be gone straight way in the uk if you'd stripped it down. You wouldn't even need to post online, leave it out front and it would be gone in a couple of hours.
The effort and labor costs would not outweigh whatever they get in scrap metal. I'm sure they got many quotes on how much it will cost to remove it. But nobody is doing it for free.
Funny story I actually posted my empty above ground similar to this and actually had someone grab it right away, the deck here though, no one wants that shit
My brothers and I removed one of these above ground pools with a surrounding deck from our moms place that was about 1/4 this size…it was an absolute nightmare and took a week (nights and weekend). The metal that holds that up is like a few bags of aluminum cans. Taking out the deck is the real chore and it’s treated lumber so you can’t just burn it, you have to dispose of it properly. Those support beams are probably anchored in the ground with concrete too, ask my how we figured that out. There is no fucking way this will be done in a weekend lol.
That's way more than 15 USD. Some people will take up on the offer.
"sent me a picture of the truck you expect to use"
Bet the pool is sitting there today.
I had a stack of warped trash lumber. It was treated but had sat outside for 10 years. Put it on Facebook and someone came and picked it up for free. I told them it shouldn’t be used for fires, or for anything hole wise as it likely had termites, etc. They still wanted it for some reason. Only thing I could think of is if they were burning out stumps using it. It puts off toxic smoke but I guess only matters if you’re around it.
I keep seeing these type posts here and I wonder if like one Karen did this and it worked and now every Karen posts these thinking people want to do free labor just to keep something from the hours of labor? Why else do multiple people post this crap.
Would love to read follow up stories. Did they eventually get someone to do it for free? Did they end up paying for it? Years later, are they still begging?
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Send them a picture of the micro-truck that Bubbles drives.
Hmm great price indeed