calvert wrote:

I'm finding some reviews online but most are horror story after horror
story. That may be a slight exaggeration but not much.




I would start in my own neighborhood - talk to neighbors who have good
roofs and get names
from them. Find out who the contractor was and what the products were.
If you have products
in mind, check out the website for the mfg. and review the types of
product and installation
instructions. Installation instructions at least help educate you in
the basic requirements and
issues that might arise.

I've helped interview contractors for various projects in our condo, and
having at least
basic info about products and methods helped immensely. I doubt that
many contractors
want to spend their time educating customers who know nothing about the
project, and
it invites abuse when homeowners are naive.

We had difficulty with a reroof, but once the problems appeared the
contractor was good
to work with and did major work to correct the issues.

When we had the condo painted, we got bids from several contractors.
One, who did
mainly commercial work, was our ultimate choice. I knew in about two
minutes after
meeting him that he seemed good - when he turned out to be the low
bidder, it was a
bit scary, but his work was the best on a large, difficult project.

I consider letters of reference from previous customers who are
strangers in the same
way I consider paid ads. Seeing their work and talking to a customer I
know are
better assurance for me.