Valuable Dumpster Rental Tips for Roofing Contractors
One of our most valuable tips for roofing contractors is that size matters when it comes to the disposal process.
It’s a roofing rule of thumb that 3 bundles of shingles will generally cover about 100 square feet of a roof.
Let’s say you’re tearing off a roof with the surface of 2000 square ft. for round numbers, it’s a safe bet that if you’re using 3 tab shingles each bundle is going to weigh between 60 and 80 pounds.
If we take things one step further, we will see that for a 2000 square ft. roof you’re going to have 3600-4800 pounds of shingles to get rid of.
One Project One Dumpster
This is a dumpster rental tip roofing contractors may overlook at first. Get the right size dumpster for the job. Making a mistake here can cost your future business.
In general, a 6 cubic yard dumpster is going to be the smallest rental size available. While your customer may want the dumpster in front of their house to be as small as possible, this is not a good option for anything but very small projects where you know exactly what is being torn off.
For most roofing projects, we recommend 10-15 cubic yard dumpsters. A 10 cubic yard dumpster will hold about 4,000 pounds of roofing rubbish. A 15 cubic yard dumpster will handle about 5,000 pounds of roofing rubbish.
One of our favorite dumpster rental tips for roofing contractors comes down to professionalism.
As a contractor, your client’s perception of your work is worth its weight in gold. If your client sees you as a squared away, diligent professional, then you are. If they see you as a contractor who was unorganized and didn’t come prepared, then that is what they’re going to tell the folks in their network.
Many times, being perceived as an expert comes down to appearances.
Getting the right size dumpster for your roofing project is crucial to making a good impression. If you have two order multiple dumpsters or have a dumpster overflowing with debris your client isn’t going to see you as the Pro you are. And they’re probably not going to refer you to their friends and neighbors
Layers Equal Pounds
If you’ve got your hands full with multiple layers of roofing to work through our best advice would be to look at a 20 cubic yard dumpster or a 30 cubic Yard dumpster.
A 20 cubic yard container will hold about 7,000 pounds of roofing debris. 20 cubic yard containers are ideal for working with double layer roofs.
If you have more than two layers to deal with a 30 cubic yard dumpster is going to be your best bet. They can hold a whopping 10,000 pounds of shingles, plywood, and other roofing rubbish.
Pro Tip: 10 Yards of dumpster space will hold about 30 squares of shingles.
Don’t Be a Creature of Habit
Humans like habits. It’s just the way we’re wired. You might fall in the habit of always going with a certain size container. While this is convenient, it can get you into trouble.
Before you choose the right dumpster for the job you’ve got to know more than just the size of the roof.
You should know how many layers are on the roof and what type of shingles you’ll be taking off and putting on.
The weight and volume of debris you’re dealing with can change dramatically depending on the type of shingles and what materials are hiding underneath the shingles.
Most of our roofing customers find themselves working with either 3 tab shingles or architectural shingles.
Get the Weight Right
Renting a dumpster often comes down to more than just cubic yards of debris. You want to be mindful not to go over the weight limit for your particular container size.
If you go over the weight limit the rental company will likely charge an additional fee. In extreme cases, you might wind up with a dumpster that is too heavy to be hauled away and special arrangements may need to be made.
Go the Extra Mile and Recycle
This one is not only a dumpster rental tip for roofing contractors, but for the rest of our audience as well.
The Tidy Bug team are big fans of recycling. We only get one planet. It’s up to each of us to keep Mother Earth healthy for generations to come.
We try our best to recycle as many materials as possible. Asphalt shingles can be used to patch potholes. If you live in St. Louis, we can almost guarantee you’ve complained about potholes.
Recycling shingles is an easy way to pitch in on our pothole problems.
Although, we will make the best effort to ensure the materials get recycled, you may be able to expand your profit margins by recycling the materials on your own.
More Than Just Shingles
No guide on dumpster rental tips for roofing contractors would be complete without this tip. On almost every roofing job you’re going to have more than just old shingles and plywood to do away with. There’s going to be nails, tarpaper, and a bunch of other odds and ends to deal with.
Here are some basic weight estimates of common roofing materials.
• Copper = .85 Pounds per square foot
• Clay Tiles = 10-20 Pounds per square foot
• Aluminum = .5 Pounds per square foot
• concrete = 9 Pounds per square foot
Don’t forget, roofing nails may be small but they will take up space and add to the overall weight
