Roof Top Removal

Rent a large dumpster and position it as close to the house as you can. Being able to throw old shingles directly into the dumpster will save you extra work.

Cover any sensitive shrubs, plants and gardens around the perimeter of the house with tarps or pieces of plywood. No matter how careful you try to be, pulling off a roof is a messy job and there will be bits of shingles everywhere. With a tarp over the shrubs, you can just pick up the tarp by the edges and empty it into the dumpster when you're done instead of having to pick trash out of your hedge.

Pull off the old shingles with a shovel, pitchfork or shingle puller. A shingle puller looks like a shovel but it has a zigzag edge designed to catch and pull out roofing nails. With practice, you can pull off sizeable swaths of old shingles and fling them directly into the dumpster.

Remove any remaining bits of shingle and roofing nails from the sheathing. If you are removing the sheathing as well, don't bother taking the bits of shingle off of it. Work a crowbar or the claw end of a claw hammer under the edge of a sheet of sheathing and pry it off. Depending on the beefiness of the nails that were used on it and how rotten it is, you may be able to pull it off with your hands.

Step only on the rafters and joists while you are pulling off the roof sheathing. If you step directly on the interior insulation or ceiling, you will go right through it. If you are removing the rafters or trusses as well, try to disassemble them in a way that you can reuse them. This will save you money on materials when you rebuild. Detach trusses from the house structure by cutting through the nails that hold them using a reciprocal saw, then lift them down to the ground in one piece. Use the reciprocal saw to cut apart rafters in the same way, by sawing through the nails that hold them together.