Old covered wooden porch with peeling paint and a sagging roof edge before removal

Wood Structure Removal · Rochester, NY

Wooden Porch Removal in Rochester, NY

A porch is a deck attached to a roof, which makes it a different job. The roof has to be supported while the porch comes down, and the house has to be left weathertight where the porch met the wall.

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From $1,000
Haul-away
Residential only

Why homeowners remove a wooden porch

Porches rot from the bottom up: the sill sits close to grade, splash-back keeps it wet, and the posts carry the roof load down into the wettest part of the structure. Once the sill is soft, everything above it is compromised.

Sometimes the porch is simply in the way — a new addition, a different entry, or a stoop that suits the house better.

What we remove

Open and screened wood porches
Porch decking, sills, rim joists and skirting
Railings, columns and turned posts
Wooden steps and landings
Porch roofs, once the structure below is supported

Signs it is time

A sill or rim joist that is soft or visibly rotted
Posts that have settled, or a roof line that sags at the porch
Steps pulling away from the porch frame
Paint failing in sheets because the wood underneath is wet

Bare ground and exposed foundation where a wooden structure was removed — What a porch leaves behind: exposed foundation and a level strip along the house.

Our wooden porch removal process

Walk the structureWe look at how the porch roof is supported and how the porch ties into the house before quoting, because that decides the sequencing.
Support, then stripThe roof is supported first if it is staying. Railings, skirting and decking come off next.
Take the frameJoists, sills and posts come out once the load is off them. Fasteners are cut rather than levered where they go into the house.
Note the basesPier bases and post settings are photographed and priced before work starts, because they change the weight more than the posts do.
Weathertight and cleanThe wall where the porch attached is checked, and the site is raked and swept.

Special considerations

If the porch roof is staying, it has to be supported before anything load-bearing is cut. That is the whole reason this is not a deck removal.
Where the porch roof ties in, the siding and flashing have to be made weathertight — otherwise the first hard rain finds it.
Electrical at a porch light or outlet is disconnected by a licensed electrician before the structure comes down.

What happens to the space afterward?

The house is left weathertight along the old attachment line, with a level strip where the porch stood. Most homeowners go back with a stoop, a smaller entry porch, or a patio at grade — the removal is planned around which.

If a replacement surface is going in, we sequence the removal around it — and say so before the work starts.

What wooden porch removal costs in Rochester

We do not publish prices we cannot stand behind, because the number depends on what is actually on site. Residential removal projects generally have a $1,000 minimum project value. What moves the quote:

Size and whether the porch is screened or covered
Roof: staying, being replaced, or coming off with the porch
Rot at the sill and rim, which changes how much has to be cut out
Access and the distance to the trailer

How to get an accurate number

Send photos of the structure, the ground around it and the path a trailer would take to reach it. Add rough dimensions if you have them. Most jobs are quoted from that alone; anything structural or unusual gets looked at first.

Start a quote

Wooden Porch Removal FAQs

Can you remove the porch but leave the roof?

Yes, and it is common. The roof gets supported on temporary posts before the porch frame comes out, and the underside is left ready for whatever replaces it.

What happens where the porch met the house?

The attachment is opened up, checked for rot, and sealed or flashed so water cannot get behind the siding.

Do you remove the concrete piers under the porch?

Yes, dug out and hauled. Leaving them means the next stoop or patio hits them.

Is a screened porch more expensive to remove?

Usually a little. Screens, frames and doors come apart in pieces rather than being cut out in sections.

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Other services

See all removal services, our service area, or read common questions before you call.

Ready to remove your wooden porch?

Send a photo and the access width. Residential projects start at $1,000.

Get a Quote 585-820-1960

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