Roofing

Sizing a Dumpster for a Roof Tear-Off in Westfield

Roofing is where sizing goes wrong most often, and it is always the same mistake: sizing by how the pile looks instead of what it weighs.

The one number that matters: squares

Roofers measure in squares. One square is 100 square feet of roof surface. A typical Westfield single-family runs somewhere between 18 and 26 squares; the older multi-family stock in Holyoke, Springfield and Chicopee runs larger than people expect, and the substantial older houses in Northampton or Easthampton can pass 40.

If you do not know your square count, your roofer does, and it is the first thing to ask.

What a square of roofing weighs

Run the arithmetic. A 24 square architectural shingle roof at 350 lb per square is roughly 8,400 pounds — over four tons before underlayment. Comfortable in a 20 yard, with little headroom if decking comes off too.

One local note: older housing here is frequently sheathed with plank decking rather than plywood, and plank is heavier per square foot. If the roofer is re-sheathing, say so.

Shingle sizing table

Read that alongside the placement section below. On a tight city lot the honest answer is often a 15 yard with a planned swap even where the table says 20, because the 20 will not fit.

Slate is a different calculation

Worth its own section because this region genuinely has slate, and getting it wrong is expensive.

Slate runs 800 to 1,500 pounds per square — three to five times asphalt shingle. A 25 square slate roof can be fifteen tons or more, well past what any single container can legally carry.

Slate therefore goes in a 10 yard, part-filled, with multiple swaps. Never a 30 yard: you would fill it a third of the way and it still could not be hauled. If you are taking slate off an older property in Northampton, Easthampton or one of the substantial valley houses, tell us at the booking stage and we will plan the swap schedule.

The second layer problem

Plenty of older houses here have a second layer of shingle laid over the original. It roughly doubles the tear-off weight, and people often do not know until the crew is up there.

Look at the rake edge from the ground, where a double layer often shows as a noticeably thicker band, and ask your roofer to confirm during the inspection. If it turns out on the day, call us — a swap mid-job is far cheaper than an overloaded container that cannot be hauled.

Ice dams and what they hide

The New England roofing problem, and it changes tear-off sizing more than anything else.

Ice dams form when heat escaping through the roof melts the underside of the snowpack, the water runs down and refreezes at the cold eave, and the resulting ridge backs water up under the shingles. Inside it shows as a ceiling stain. Outside it has usually been soaking the decking and the insulation for weeks.

Western Massachusetts gets real snow and the hilltowns hold it longer, so these are common rather than occasional. Older multi-family housing is particularly prone, because insulation and ventilation were not design priorities when it was built.

On any roof being replaced because of ice dam damage, budget for more decking than you think and wet insulation coming out too. Both are much heavier than their dry equivalents. Tell us it is water damage and we size for weight.

Placement: valley, city and hilltown

Roofing containers need to sit close to the house, and where you are changes what is possible.

• Westfield and the valley towns. Generous driveways, straightforward placement, tight to the drip line on the elevation being stripped.
• The older cities. Short or absent driveways, on-street parking and mature trees. Street placement is often the only option and needs arranging in advance.
• The hilltowns. Long private drives on grades, often unpaved. The question is not where the container sits but whether a loaded truck can get to it and back down safely.

Everywhere: the truck needs roughly twenty-two feet of clear overhead to raise the bed, and boards go under the rails as standard on every surface.

One thing that is not about the container: a tear-off sheds an enormous quantity of nails. A magnet sweep of the driveway, pavement and street at the end of the job is twenty minutes well spent, and it is the single most common complaint homeowners have about roofing work.

The short northern season

The practical roofing window here runs roughly April to October — asphalt shingles need warmth to seal properly — and up in Blandford, Chester and Granville it is shorter still, because the hills hold cold later and start earlier.

That compresses a year of roofing into about six or seven months, and spring is doubly busy because it is when winter's ice dam damage gets discovered and acted on.

If you are a roofing contractor, a standing arrangement with a local hauler is worth more here than in a twelve-month climate. We hold capacity for contractors who work with us regularly, and we are honest during the crunch about what we can and cannot deliver.