Gravel on a flat roof has to move for one of two reasons. Sometimes it is a specific area: around a rooftop unit that needs service, a drain that keeps clogging, or a path crews walk every week. Sometimes it is the whole roof, ahead of a re-roof, a coating, or solar. We handle both, and quote the removal, hauling, and disposal as one total price.
Chicagoland has one of the largest stocks of aging flat-roofed industrial and commercial buildings in the country, and many of them still carry gravel-surfaced built-up roofs or stone-ballasted membrane systems. The stone does its job for decades, but it also hides the membrane, buries drains, and piles up around rooftop equipment. Sooner or later, some or all of it has to come off.
Because we're a licensed roofing contractor and not only a removal service, we look at what the stone was hiding as it comes up. If the exposed membrane, flashing, or drains need attention, you hear it from the same company, and the removal and the roof work that follows can sit under one contract.
Clearing around rooftop equipment: gravel built up around HVAC units, condensers, and curbs, cleared so the equipment can be serviced and the membrane underneath checked
Drains, scuppers, and service paths: stone that has washed into drains or spread across the routes technicians walk
Leak investigation and repair: you cannot find or fix a membrane problem buried under stone
Re-roofing a gravel BUR: the gravel must come off before tear-off or re-cover; no new system installs over loose stone
Coating restoration: silicone and other coating systems need a clean, bare substrate to bond to
Rooftop solar: ballasted roofs need stone removed or staged before racking and panels go down
Structural load reduction: taking tons of stone off an aging deck ahead of equipment additions or code work
Gravel-surfaced built-up roofing (BUR): pea gravel embedded in the flood coat of asphalt; the classic Chicagoland industrial roof
Ballasted EPDM: loose river rock holding down a rubber membrane; removable and often re-usable as ballast
IRMA / protected membrane roofs: stone over insulation over membrane; the stone and insulation both come up
Pavers and walkway stone: removed and staged or hauled as the project requires
We look at the roof: how much area needs clearing, the stone type and depth, building height, and how the stone will get to the ground. For full-roof work that includes where equipment can stage and where hose runs go. You get one total price covering removal, hauling, and disposal. If rooftop HVAC intakes, occupied tenants, or dock traffic need working around, that planning happens here, not on the day.
For clearing around equipment, drains, or walkways, the crew works from the roof and the stone is bagged or containered for haul-off. For full-roof removal, a vacuum unit sets up at grade in a parking area or drive lane, with hose runs up the building face. Either way, fall protection goes up first and ground-level paths near the work are coned off. The building stays open.
The stone comes up, and as the area clears we inspect the exposed membrane and document anything the stone was hiding: open seams, splits, blistering, or ponding patterns. Whatever you decide next starts from real information instead of a guess.
The stone is hauled off site and disposed of. It is inert material, not hazardous waste. If ballast is staying on site for re-use after solar or repair work, it is staged and returned instead. Either way, disposal is in the quoted price, not a surprise at the end.
If the removal is the first stage of our own re-roof, repair, or coating project, the roof work follows under the same contract. If the removal is for someone else's project, you get a cleared area and photo documentation of the condition underneath.
For a defined area, such as around a few rooftop units, a drain, or a walkway, crew removal is the right tool. It is quick to set up, needs no equipment staged in the parking lot, and a careful crew clearing a small area puts very little stress on the membrane.
For a whole roof, vacuum removal is the better method. Moving 40 tons of stone across a roof and down to grade by hand is slow, hard work, and it loads the membrane all day. An industrial vacuum keeps the heavy equipment on the ground, moves the stone through a sealed hose that controls dust, and clears in a day or two what would take a week by hand.
The honest constraint on full-roof jobs is capacity. Chicagoland has far more gravel roofs reaching end of life than vacuum capacity to serve them, and lead times stretch in season. If a re-roof or solar project depends on the stone coming off, raise the removal when the project is first scheduled, not after.
If you own or manage a building with a gravel or ballasted roof, the need is usually one of two things: a problem area that needs clearing, or a bigger decision about re-roofing, restoring, or adding solar. Either way we price the removal as a total, tell you honestly what the exposed roof looks like, and can carry the roof work that follows under the same license. That includes gravel-surfaced flat roofs on homes, two-flats, and small multi-unit buildings as well as commercial and industrial property.
If you're a contractor whose project needs stone removed first, call us with the address, the area, and your target date. We'll look at it and tell you straight whether we can meet that date before you build a schedule around it. Subcontract and direct-bill arrangements both work.
It depends mostly on how much of the roof needs clearing, the type and depth of the stone, how tall the building is, and how the stone gets down to the ground. Clearing gravel from around a few rooftop units is a small job. Removing the stone from an entire roof is a much larger one, because the weight adds up fast: an inch of stone weighs roughly four to five pounds per square foot, so a 20,000 square foot roof carries 40 to 50 tons of rock, and every ton has to be hauled away and disposed of. Loose river-rock ballast is heavier and slower to move than pea gravel embedded in a built-up roof, and congested sites or long carries add time. We give one total price after seeing the roof, and it includes hauling and disposal.
Yes, and it is one of the most common requests. Gravel builds up around HVAC units, condensers and equipment curbs, washes into drains and scuppers, and collects along the paths service technicians walk. Clearing those areas lets the equipment be serviced, keeps water moving off the roof, and exposes the membrane in the places leaks most often start. This kind of work does not need vacuum equipment, so it is not held up by vacuum lead times. We clear the area, haul the stone away, and tell you what we see underneath it.
For a whole roof there are three common reasons. First, re-roofing: when a gravel-surfaced built-up roof reaches end of life, the gravel has to come off before the roof can be torn off or re-covered; you cannot install a new membrane over loose stone. Second, restoration: silicone and other coating systems require a clean, bare substrate, so a coating project on a gravel BUR starts with removing the gravel. Third, solar: ballasted roofs being fitted with rooftop solar need the stone removed or relocated before racking goes down. For part of a roof, the reasons are usually practical: equipment that needs servicing, a drain that keeps clogging, or a leak that cannot be traced while the membrane is buried.
Vacuum removal is used when the stone is coming off a whole roof. A trailer-mounted industrial vacuum sits at grade, in a parking lot or drive lane, and pulls stone off the roof through reinforced hoses that can run hundreds of feet. Crew on the roof work the hose head across the surface, sweeping and directing stone into the intake. On a large field, that is much gentler on the roof than shoveling and running loaded wheelbarrows across the membrane all day, because the heavy work stays on the ground. On ballasted EPDM systems, where the membrane underneath is meant to stay in service, that matters. For small, defined areas such as around rooftop units, careful crew removal is the right tool and puts very little stress on the membrane. Either way, we look at the membrane as the stone comes up and document any existing damage we uncover.
It is hauled off site and disposed of, and disposal is included in our price. Roof gravel and ballast stone are inert materials, not hazardous waste. On some ballasted-roof projects the stone is not disposed of at all: if a ballasted membrane is staying in service and the work is temporary, such as a solar installation, a membrane repair or drainage work, the ballast can be staged on site and returned to the roof afterwards.
Yes, and it is a legitimate question to ask any contractor doing this work. Dried roof gravel carries fine dust, and stone dust can contain crystalline silica, which OSHA regulates under its respirable silica standard. On full-roof vacuum removal, the stone travels through a closed hose into filtered equipment rather than being dropped or chuted in open air. On smaller crew removal, the stone is bagged or containered on the roof rather than dumped. Crews work with appropriate protection, and we plan around wind and building air intakes on sensitive sites. If your building has rooftop HVAC intakes, tell us, because sequencing the work around them is a normal part of planning the job.
Clearing a defined area around equipment or drains is usually a short job. For full-roof removal, production depends on the stone: embedded pea gravel on a built-up roof typically comes off at roughly 10,000 to 15,000 square feet per crew-day with vacuum equipment, and loose river-rock ballast runs closer to 6,000 to 8,000 square feet per day. So a typical 20,000 square foot pea-gravel roof is one to two working days, and a large ballasted roof can take a week. Vacuum capacity across Chicagoland is tight in season, so if a tear-off or solar install depends on the removal, call early and we will tell you honestly what the timing looks like.
Yes, and that is the strongest reason to call a roofing contractor rather than a standalone removal service. Leaders Roofing holds an Illinois Unlimited Roofing License (#104.010248), which means the removal, the tear-off, the new roof system and the flashing details can all sit under one contract and one point of responsibility. When the removal and the roofing are separate companies, the schedule risk lives in the handoff between them. If you are a roofing or solar contractor who needs stone removed for your own project, call us with the address, the area and your target date, and we will tell you straight whether we can meet it.
Send the address, roughly how much of the roof needs clearing, and what the removal is for. We'll look at it and come back with one total price that includes hauling and disposal.