Shingle tear-off
Roofing dumpster size by squares
Shingles are heavy for their bulk: a square of architectural shingles weighs 210 lb and takes up 0.29 cubic yards loose, so a roofing dumpster runs out of weight allowance long before it is full. Pick your roof size for the tear-off weight, the volume and the dumpster.
- 1Roof sizes 10–50 squares
- 2Architectural 210 lb per square
- 3Loose shingles 731 lb per yd
- 43-tab 186 lb per square
| Roof | 1 layer, arch. | Loose volume | Dumpster | 2 layers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 squares | 2,100 lb | 2.9 yd³ | 10-yard | 20-yard |
| 15 squares | 3,150 lb | 4.3 yd³ | 10-yard | 20-yard |
| 20 squares | 4,200 lb | 5.7 yd³ | 20-yard | 30-yard |
| 25 squares | 5,250 lb | 7.2 yd³ | 20-yard | 30-yard |
| 30 squares | 6,300 lb | 8.6 yd³ | 20-yard | 40-yard |
| 35 squares | 7,350 lb | 10 yd³ | 20-yard | 40-yard |
| 40 squares | 8,400 lb | 11 yd³ | 30-yard | 2 × 30-yard |
| 50 squares | 10,500 lb | 14 yd³ | 30-yard | 2 × 30-yard |
Architectural shingles at 210 lb a square (GAF Timberline HDZ: 70 lb a bundle, 3 bundles a square); volume at EPA's 731 lb per loose cubic yard; size from Republic Services' published capacities, using the low end.
Why weight, not volume, sets a roofing dumpster
A 10-yard box could hold 35 squares of loose shingles by volume, but those would weigh 3.7 tons against a published capacity of 2–3 tons. So the useful question is how many tons the roof produces, and which box carries that many. Bin There Dump That's New Hampshire and Massachusetts listings put the limit for their 10-yard at "100 bundles or 33sq", which is a volume figure; their 10-yard includes 1 ton in the price, so most of those 33 squares would be billed as overage.
Layers matter as much as area. Every extra layer adds the full weight again, and older roofs in New England often have two. Check at a gable edge, a plumbing vent or the drip edge before ordering; a roofer's estimate usually states the layer count. If the old roof is wood shakes, slate or tile rather than asphalt, these figures do not apply, because those materials weigh differently and some haulers price them as heavy debris.
For a small roof, compare the rental with dump runs: several New Hampshire and Massachusetts towns publish a shingle rate, from Derry's per-pound fee to Brookline's per-yard fee, and each roof page works out the cost at four of them.
See also asphalt shingle weight per yard, the roofing dumpster guide and the size comparison.