What happens to my old roof?
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When you’re getting your roof replaced, what happens to all the old shingles?
Short answer: every old shingle, nail, and scrap of underlayment comes off your house, lands on tarps or in a catch net instead of your yard, goes into a dumpster or trailer, and gets hauled away. Then we go over your property with a magnet so nothing sharp gets left behind.
Here is how each part of that works.
First, we protect your yard
A good roof job starts with prep, documentation, and an honest look at what your roof actually needs and what it doesn’t. Once the job is verified, and before anyone pulls a single shingle, we lay tarps over the lawn, the flower beds, and anything near the house you care about.
Then we hang a Catch-All net from the roof edge. When the old shingles and nails come off, they slide into the net instead of bouncing off your siding or landing in your plants.
How we haul it away
On most jobs, the old roof goes straight into a roll-off dumpster in your driveway. On a smaller home, or a spot a big truck can’t reach, we use a trailer instead.
For dumpsters, Bubs Disposal is our guy. Bubba and his team take great care of us. They have roll-off dumpsters in 15, 20, and 30-yard sizes, and covered dumpsters when an HOA wants the box covered. They just started doing porta potties too, so when our crew needs one, especially on a commercial job, Bubs handles that as well.
What happens after the dumpster leaves
When the job is done, Bubs picks up the dumpster and hauls the load away. Where it goes from there depends on what’s in it, which is the next two questions.
What is actually in an old roof
More than shingles. A tear-off takes everything down to the wood deck: the shingles, the nails, the old underlayment, and any worn flashing and drip edge. That is why an old roof is so heavy, and why it needs a real dumpster, not a pickup bed.
What goes back on is a full system, layer by layer, from deck protection up to the ridge cap. See the six layers on a new roof.
Can old shingles be recycled?
Sometimes. Asphalt shingles can be ground up and used in road paving and new asphalt. Utah’s own waste rules list recycling as the preferred way to handle waste asphalt, including as road base and in new asphalt mix (Utah Admin. Code R315-315-9).
In practice it’s case by case. Asphalt shingles can be sorted out and taken to the right recycling facility, but it depends on the load and what the facilities near you will take. When it makes sense, the shingles get recycled. When it doesn’t, they go to the landfill.
Then comes cleanup
When the new roof is on, the cleanup is just as planned as the prep:
- Tarps come up, and everything they caught goes in the dumpster.
- The Catch-All gets packed away.
- We walk the whole property with a magnet to pick up any nails. We are confident you won’t find a nail.
- We do a final walkthrough with our project manager.
- We fly the drone for after photos, and make sure you’re happy with the job.
A couple of questions we get asked
Will the dumpster hurt my driveway?
It’s rare for a dumpster to leave any marks on a driveway. If there’s a spot you’re worried about, tell us before it’s dropped and we’ll talk through where it goes.
How long does the dumpster stay?
As long as your project needs it. The dumpster typically arrives before tear-off and is picked up after.
