The short version
- Weight decides it, not volume. The U.S. EPA's factor for composition roofing is 731 lb per loose cubic yard, so a ton of shingles is only about 2.7 cubic yards.
- Our 12 to 25-yard bins include 3 tons for $650; the 40 includes 5 tons for $825. Each ton past that is $135, rounded to the nearest ton.
- About 27 squares of one-layer architectural shingles is where the bill passes the 3 tons included (extra tons are rounded, so it steps up at 3.5). Two layers halve that.
- Tile is three to four times heavier. Standard concrete tile passes the 3 tons included at roughly 7.5 squares.
- Published weights disagree, so the calculator shows the range and lets you pick the low, middle or high figure.
Run your own roof in the roofing dumpster calculator. It prints every step of the arithmetic and the bin that holds it.
What a square of roofing weighs
Roofers count in squares: 100 square feet of roof surface. The weights below are per square for one layer of new product, taken from each maker's technical data sheet or brochure. Where makers disagree we show the whole range and label the midpoint. Nothing here is a guess; if we couldn't find a published figure, the material isn't listed.
| Material | Published lb per square | Midpoint | Tons per square (midpoint) | Where the figures come from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-tab asphalt shingles | 200–240 | 220.0 | 0.110 | CertainTeed CT 20 200; CertainTeed XT 25 220; CertainTeed XT 30 230; CertainTeed XT 30 IR 240 |
| Architectural (laminated) asphalt shingles | 211–300 | 255.5 | 0.128 | CertainTeed Landmark 211–225; CertainTeed Landmark PRO 231–240; Generic laminated shingle (average) 280; CertainTeed Landmark Premium 300 |
| Designer / heavy asphalt (luxury shake or slate look) | 350–468 | 409.0 | 0.205 | CertainTeed Presidential Shake 350; CertainTeed Grand Manor 418; CertainTeed Presidential Shake TL 468 |
| Concrete tile (standard weight) | 900–970 | 935.0 | 0.468 | Eagle Capistrano 900; Eagle Malibu 903; Eagle Bel Air, Ponderosa, Golden Eagle 970 |
| Lightweight concrete tile | 550–720 | 635.0 | 0.318 | Eagle Eaglelite Malibu 550; Eagle Eaglelite Capistrano 570; Eagle Eaglelite Bel Air, Ponderosa, Golden Eagle 720 |
| Clay tile | 900–1,250 | 1,075.0 | 0.538 | Ludowici Spanish 13 900; Ludowici French Interlocking 1025; Ludowici Straight Barrel Mission 14 1250 |
Sources: CertainTeed technical data sheets and brochures, NIST BEES, Eagle Roofing's 2026 technical specifications and Ludowici product data sheets. Full list at the end of this guide.
Where the sources disagree
Architectural shingles are the widest spread. CertainTeed's current Landmark sheets say 211 to 240 lb a square; NIST's generic laminated shingle averages 280 lb; CertainTeed's Landmark Premium brochure says 300 lb. GAF's Timberline HDZ spec sheet and TAMKO's current data sheets print bundles and pieces per square but no weight. If you're budgeting, use the high end.
Wood shake, wood shingle and metal roofing aren't in the table. The Cedar Shake & Shingle Bureau's roof installation manual and product pages don't publish a weight per square, and we didn't find a maker's figure for metal we could cite. Rather than guess, we leave them out. If that's your roof, call or text and we'll talk it through.
Layers, felt and decking
Every layer you tear off adds its full weight again. A second layer of architectural shingles on a 25-square roof takes the load from about 3.3 tons to 6.5 tons, past the 3 included in a 12 to 25-yard bin.
| Item | Weight | Source |
|---|---|---|
| No. 15 felt (ASTM D226 Type I) | 11.5 lb per square | TRI-BUILT ASTM 15 D226 data sheet; IIBEC |
| No. 30 felt (ASTM D226 Type II) | 26 lb per square | IIBEC (Levine, 2019) |
| Roof decking, 1/2-inch plywood | 48 lb per 4×8 sheet (1.5 psf) | APA Panel Design Specification, Table 6 |
| Roof decking, OSB | About 10% more than plywood of the same thickness | APA Panel Design Specification, Table 6 |
IIBEC found felts labelled "Pro 30" and "No. 30" that weighed 13 and 8 lb a square; ASTM D226 Type II is 26.
Felt is small next to the shingles: 11.5 lb a square against 256. Decking isn't. Replacing 20 sheets adds 960 lb, and plywood and OSB are bulky: the EPA's factor for engineered wood is 268 lb per cubic yard, so those 20 sheets are about 3.6 cubic yards on their own.
If you only know the house footprint, multiply it (eaves included) by the pitch factor: 1.054 at 4/12, 1.118 at 6/12, 1.414 at 12/12. That's IKO's area conversion table, and it's the square root of (144 + rise²) divided by 12.
Why tile changes everything
Standard-weight concrete tile runs 900 to 970 lb a square (Eagle Roofing), lightweight concrete tile 550 to 720 lb, and clay 900 lb (Ludowici Spanish) to 1,250 lb (Ludowici straight barrel mission). A 20-square concrete tile roof is about 9.5 tons; the same roof in clay mission tile at the midpoint is about 10.9 tons.
At $135 for each ton past the included weight, that's where a tile tear-off's cost lives. On the rate sheet a 20-square concrete tile roof in the smallest bin that holds it, a 25-yard, comes to $1,460, or $1,365 in a 40-yard, whose 5 included tons make it cheaper.
Call before you book a tile tear-off
We haven't published a maximum weight per bin. With tile, the weight climbs fast, so call or text first and ask us how much tile one bin can carry before you fill it.
Tile volume is less certain than its weight. The EPA has no factor for broken tile. At the EPA's broken-concrete factor (860 lb per cubic yard) a 20-square concrete tile roof is about 22 cubic yards; packed like a load of only broken concrete (2,400 lb, the figure our debris weight calculator uses) it's about 8. The calculator sizes the bin on the larger number. The price is set by weight either way.
Sizing examples
Each row is computed by the same code as the calculator: midpoint weight, one layer of No. 15 felt, no decking, a 14-day rental. The bin is the smallest that holds the volume; the price includes any extra tons.
| Roof | Squares | Tons | Cubic yards | Smallest bin and price | Cheaper option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3-tab, one layer | 20 | 2.32 | 6.3 | 12-yard, $650 | — |
| Architectural, one layer | 20 | 2.67 | 7.3 | 12-yard, $650 | — |
| Architectural, two layers | 25 | 6.53 | 17.9 | 20-yard, $1,190 | 40-yard, $1,095 |
| Designer shingles, one layer | 20 | 4.21 | 11.5 | 12-yard, $785 | — |
| Lightweight concrete tile | 20 | 6.47 | 15.1 | 16-yard, $1,055 | 40-yard, $960 |
| Standard concrete tile | 20 | 9.47 | 22.1 | 25-yard, $1,460 | 40-yard, $1,365 |
| Clay tile | 20 | 10.87 | 25.3 | 40-yard, $1,635 | — |
Extra tonnage is rounded to the nearest ton. Prices from our published rate sheet. Overfilled dumpster (above the red line): additional charges may apply.
Notice the 40-yard showing up as the cheaper option on heavy roofs. It costs more to start but includes two more tons, so once a load passes about 4.5 tons, it can be the lower bill. It's 20 feet long, so make sure it fits.
California and roofing waste
CalRecycle estimates California generates about 1.2 million tons of asphalt shingles a year, 1.1 million of it from tear-offs, and that asphalt roofing was about 1.7% of the state's disposed waste in 2018. Nationally, it puts the figure at about 11 million tons a year.
Ground shingles can go into asphalt pavement and aggregate base, where a processor is set up for it. CalRecycle lists the contaminants processors deal with: metals, "which can be removed by a rotating magnet," and wood, "which sometimes accompanies shingles when the plywood is also replaced in a re-roof job."
On asbestos, CalRecycle says the incidence of asbestos-containing shingles in today's tear-offs is "extremely low," and that U.S. EPA and CalEPA regulate friable asbestos over 1 percent while OSHA regulates friable and nonfriable asbestos over 0.1 percent. If an older roof or its felt might contain asbestos, get it tested before tear-off.
A reroof that needs a building permit may also come with your city's construction and demolition recycling paperwork. See C&D recycling rules in California for what that involves. And whatever the job: no electronics, tires or hazardous materials.