Replacement day can feel a little chaotic if you do not know what is coming. There are trucks, a dumpster, a crew on your roof making a lot of noise, and it all happens fast. Here is the whole thing laid out so you know exactly what to expect.

What should you do before the crew arrives?

We will schedule a dumpster delivery for the morning of your job, or sometimes the evening before. It gets placed in your driveway or as close to the house as possible. If you have a specific preference on placement, let us know ahead of time.

Before day one, here are a few things to take care of:

  • Move vehicles out of the driveway and away from the house. Debris comes off the roof fast.
  • Clear patio furniture, grills, and potted plants away from the perimeter of the house. We lay tarps, but clear space makes everything go smoother.
  • Plan for your pets. Loose nails, debris, and a crew going in and out is not a safe combination. Keep dogs inside or somewhere else for the day.
  • Give your neighbors a heads up. We start early and it is loud. A quick knock on the door the night before goes a long way.

What happens in the morning?

The crew typically arrives between 7:00 and 7:30. They lay protective tarps around the foundation of the house, over landscaping, and anywhere that needs to be shielded from falling debris. Then tear-off begins.

This is the loudest part of the day. The old shingles, underlayment, and any damaged material get stripped down to the wood decking and thrown into the dumpster. It sounds intense, and it is. But it moves quickly. On a standard-sized home, tear-off is usually done by late morning.

BHR crew installing charcoal shingle roof with underlayment and pipe boots, Pleasant View

Once the old roof is off, we inspect every inch of the decking. We are looking for soft spots, rot, water stains, and anything that indicates the wood has been compromised. If we find damaged decking, we replace it with new plywood or OSB before moving forward. We will let you know what we found and what it costs before we do the work. No surprises.

What happens in the afternoon?

With a clean, solid deck, the new system goes on in order. Ice and water shield along the eaves, valleys, and any vulnerable areas first. Then synthetic underlayment across the rest of the deck. Drip edge along the perimeter. Then starter shingles, field shingles row by row working up the slope, flashing at every transition point, and finally the ridge vent and ridge cap at the peak.

It is methodical and it moves fast when you have an experienced crew. Most of the installation happens in the afternoon, and on a standard home, we are often wrapping up by end of day.

Completed warm-tone shingle roof with pipe boots and ridge vent, Morgan

End of day cleanup

This is where a lot of companies cut corners, and it is something we take seriously. When the roofing is done, we do a thorough cleanup of the entire property. Tarps get collected, the yard and driveway get swept, and we run a magnetic roller across every area where nails could have fallen.

We do a final visual inspection of the completed roof from the ground, check all the gutters and downspouts to make sure they are clear, and make sure the property looks as close to how we found it as possible. If you are home, we will walk you through the finished work before we pack up.

"If you work from home, plan to be somewhere else during tear-off morning. It is loud enough that earbuds are not going to help."

What about noise and dust?

Tear-off day is loud. If you work from home, plan to be on the opposite end of the house or somewhere else for the morning. The pounding and scraping is not something you can ignore through a set of earbuds.

Dust and debris are part of the process. We contain it as best we can with tarps and careful work, but some dust in the attic and around the exterior is unavoidable. If you have items stored in the attic directly under the work area, consider covering them before day one.