Make sure they are insured. Small, one or two man companies often have the lowest prices but also are risky. Some of those might be excellent, but many don't know what they're doing because they do lots of things not just roofing, and they don't have as much equipment.

My next door neighbor liked his company, but he recommended not paying the entire amount up front. You can often get a deal by doing so, but he said you don't know for sure what you're getting until you've had a good rain. Even good companies occassionally need to fix their work. There was one spot they needed to fix and because he paid everything up front, the company was not in a hurry to come and fix that part.

I have also found that i can get great advice on which people to use for anything – roofing, plumbing, electrical, etc. – that the people at my local hardware store know who's really good and who isn't because they hear it all from their customers. But then, i'm in a small town and it's an independent hardware store. The people at the church also knew who was good and who wasn't because they had four buildings and had used lots of local contractors until they found ones that were great and they'd go back to them again and again, so you might try asking your church secretary for a recommendation, too.

SunriseSunsetgal