Roofing guide
Shingle weight adds up faster than most homeowners expect, and a roof tear-off leaves more than shingles behind. Here's what to plan for before the crew shows up.
A roof tear-off looks straightforward from the ground: old shingles come off, new ones go on. What catches people off guard is how much weight comes off that roof and how much smaller debris — nails, flashing, underlayment scraps — ends up scattered across the driveway and yard by the end of the day. This checklist covers the parts of the job that actually determine whether cleanup goes smoothly.
Asphalt shingles are dense. A single layer, tear-off on an average Cherokee County single-family roof (roughly 20 to 25 squares) typically runs in the range of a 20 yard dumpster, and that's the size most re-roof jobs in our service area end up booking. Two layers of existing shingles, a steeper roof pitch that adds waste, or a larger footprint home pushes many jobs toward a 30 yard instead. This is one of the few debris types where weight limits matter more than the container filling up visually — a 20 yard can look half-empty and still be at its rated weight if it's packed with tear-off shingles.
Roofing nails end up everywhere during a tear-off — in the grass, in flower beds, and especially in the driveway, where they're a flat-tire risk for every vehicle that pulls in afterward. A magnetic roofing sweep across the driveway, walkways, and the perimeter of the house (typically a 10 to 15 foot band out from the foundation on all sides) should happen before the crew wraps for the day, not just at the very end of the job. Most professional roofing crews build this into their process, but if you're a homeowner managing a smaller job or working with a crew you haven't used before, it's worth confirming a magnetic sweep is part of the scope before work starts.
Roofing debris comes off fast and from height, so container placement matters more here than on a lot of other jobs. A few things to plan for:
Roofing demand in our service area isn't steady all year. Hail and severe wind events — the kind that roll through north Georgia in spring storm season and occasionally in the fall, as they did during Hurricane Helene's remnants in September 2024 — reliably trigger a spike in roof replacement bookings in the weeks that follow as insurance claims get approved and crews get scheduled. If your roof is on the list after a storm event, booking your dumpster as soon as your roofer has a start date locked in — rather than waiting until the week of the job — helps avoid delivery delays during those high-demand windows.
The smoothest tear-offs are the ones where the dumpster placement, delivery timing, and crew schedule are all lined up before the first shingle comes off. Confirm with your roofer (or directly with us, if you're managing the project yourself) how many days the container needs to stay on site, whether a single 20 or 30 yard will cover the whole tear-off, or whether the job needs a swap partway through for a larger re-roof with tear-off plus decking replacement.
A full tear-off usually brings down more than the shingle layer itself. Underlayment and felt paper, old flashing around chimneys and vents, deteriorated ridge caps, and in some cases sections of rotted decking all come off with the rest of the debris. If your roofer finds soft or water-damaged decking once the shingles are off — common on older Cherokee County homes where a roof has been due for replacement for a while — that plywood adds to both the volume and the weight in the container, and it's worth mentioning to whoever is sizing your dumpster so the estimate accounts for it rather than getting revised mid-job.
Gutters sometimes come out of a re-roof project too, especially if they were damaged by the same hail or wind event that triggered the replacement. Old aluminum or steel gutter sections can go in the same container as the shingles in most cases, but it's worth confirming with your hauler if the job also includes larger metal items, since some haulers handle scrap metal differently than general roofing debris.
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Call (770) 629-0113 and describe the job. Flat price, stated tonnage allowance, and a delivery window on the same call.
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From this guide
Most single-layer tear-offs on an average single-family home run around 20 to 25 squares of shingles, which typically fits a 20 yard dumpster. Larger homes, steeper roofs, or multiple existing layers often need a 30 yard instead.
Shingles are dense and heavy for their volume, so a container can reach its weight rating before it looks full. This is normal for tear-off debris and part of why sizing conversations for roofing jobs focus on square footage and layers, not just visual container size.
This is standard roofing crew responsibility, typically done with a magnetic sweep across the driveway, walkways, and a band around the house's perimeter before the job wraps. If you're managing a smaller job yourself, confirm a magnetic sweep is part of the plan before work starts.
Yes. Hail and high-wind events, including the remnants of tropical systems like Hurricane Helene in September 2024, reliably drive a jump in roof replacement bookings in the following weeks. Booking your dumpster as soon as you have a roofing start date helps avoid delays during those busier stretches.
Keep reading
Clearing out a family home is rarely simple, logistically or otherwise. Here's a practical way to approach sorting, sizing, and scheduling — without adding pressure to an already hard week.
ReadVolume and weight are two separate limits, and the material you're throwing away decides which one you'll hit first. Here's how to size a roll-off dumpster correctly for homes across Cherokee County and beyond.
ReadA few minutes of prep before delivery day protects your driveway and keeps the drop-off simple, whether you're on a wide subdivision lot or a tight older driveway near downtown Canton.
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