"JMartin" wrote in message

My siding is solid on the soffits/eaves/whatever you call it. I know
it's supposed to be the ventilated siding, but it's not.

One says $6200 for a tear off and total resheathing, new ridge/soffit
vents and 30 year shingles.

Next is $4800 for tear off, new shingles, new vents.

Third is $1400 to re-roof over the shingles. He says he can use a saw
to cut a hole to put ridge vents in and then add soffit ones.

Is Mr. Cheapo doable?

What about my siding? Will I have to replace that? I can't imagine a
vent can work if the siding is solid...

Thanks
Jena

They are all viable solutions to the matching problem. The problem is,
though, you don't know what yours is. If you have leaks and the house is
older, you may have to replace the sheathing and the $6200 job is the right
one. You can often give some inspection from the attic space, but until the
old shingles are off, you can't be sure.

Tear off is good and gives you the opportunity to check the sheathing, add
ice dams, etc. Makes for the best job but is costly.

The third is a viable way of doing the job as long as there is no serious
damage. Code permits 2 layers of shingles. Adding venting as he states
works too, as long as enough is put in. Methods aside, it sounds too cheap
considering the cost of material. He may be using a cheap grade of shingle
versus the 30 year job and he may be using staples instead of nails, etc.
Unless you have a tiny house, it just sounds too cheap.

The middle guy is going to see the sheathing so if it needs replacing, it
can be done, but at added cost. At least be prepared for it if you go that
way.

The cheap guy just sounds too cheap. If money is really tight, it may get
you by for another 5 or so years. Just don't give him a big down payment
and find out what brand and type of shingle he plans to use.

In any case, get some references and ask around about them.