Shingle Eater
Shingle eaters are the bread and butter of doing a quick tear-off. A shingle eater is a tool used to pull up nails and shingles. There are 4 things that I look for in a good shingle eater.
- Angled head: This makes it much easier to pull up nails and shingles.
- Made of Metal: Although heavier, I prefer the fully metal ones because of how much durable they are.
- Pointed Teeth: I prefer the pointed teeth for pulling out nails over the beveled teeth.
- Hidden Nail Puller: On the underside of the shingle eater is another nail puller. This is convenient for tricky nails.
One shingle eater that meets all my requirements can be found here on Amazon. You can click this link to check out the prices.
Magnets
I can’t stress the importance of magnets. They are one of the best tools for cleaning up a tear-off. Magnets help you to easily clean up any nails that have fallen off the roof into flower beds or grassy areas.
There are two main types of magnets that are essential for any roofing tear-off. The first one is a rolling magnet which is used to sweep the grassy areas and driveways.
Click Here to see the price of the rolling magnet on Amazon.
I like this magnet because it comes with a handle at the top which you can pull to drop the nails you collected into a dumpster.
The second magnet that is a must-have for any cleanup job is a hand magnet. This one is perfect to collect nails in flower beds and other hard-to-reach places.
Click Here to see the price of the hand magnet on Amazon.
Similar to the rolling magnet, this magnet comes with a handle at the top which you can pull to release any collected nails.
Shovels
Metal shovels are perfect for scooping up brittle shingles or wood shake. They are also good dustpans for sweeping up dirt off the driveway or around the dumpster.
The aluminum metal is lightweight but durable making it perfect for the job.
You can click here to see the metal shovel that I like using.
Leaf Blower
Leaf Blowers are great for blowing the dust off the roof once the shingles have been removed. The dust makes the roof more slippery and harder to lay felt underlayments.
You can also use it to blow away roof granules from the driveway and deck areas. Dewalt makes a good leaf blower that is battery-powered. I prefer the battery-powered ones because then I don’t have to worry about tripping on a chord.
You can click this link to see the Dewalt leaf blower and other leaf blowers on Amazon.
Tarps
Tarps are also essential to cleaning up fast. You can never have too many tarps. You can use tarps to protect flower beds, grass, driveways, etc. from falling debris.
I also use tarps for smaller jobs that do not need a dumpster. I place a tarp on the bed of my truck before dumping shingle in. Then after loading in some shingles, I add another tarp.
The secret is to layer tarps between layers of torn-off shingles. This makes it much easier when it comes to taking the expired shingles to the dump. Because you can quickly pull the tarps out of the truck and dump the shingles. Much faster than shoveling the shingles by hand.
You can purchase tarps pretty much anywhere, but if you want to show your appreciation and help support us you can use this Amazon affiliate link to purchase some tarps. Remember you can never have enough tarps.
Pry Bar
Pry bars are great for removing nails in hard-to-reach places. This could include flashing around chimneys or sides.
Sometimes you can’t use the shingle eater to remove shingles because the area is too small or you need to be careful not to damage certain parts. In this case, a pry bar is a perfect tool for the job.
Click Here to check out my recommended pry bar on Amazon
I like using this pry bar because it has two sides to it which makes it easy to pull up nails in all sorts of positions.
Push Broom
Brooms are another essential tool that is great for sweeping up small shingles, dirt, and other debris. You may be surprised by how handy this can become.
One Push broom that I would recommend is the Bulldozer push broom because it is effective at sweeping up both large pieces and fine shingle granules.
Click Here to see this Push Broom on Amazon
Gloves
Gloves help prevent you from getting blisters or fiberglass slivers. I go through a lot of gloves because shingles are like sandpaper that wears down gloves quickly. For this reason, I opted to go for a less expensive glove.
You can click here to see the prices for this 5-pack of gloves on Amazon.
But I found one type of glove that seems to last longer than all the other more expensive gloves.
This glove is made of durable cowhide. It is a firm leather so in order for it to be comfortable it requires a break-in period but the price makes it well worth it.