I postponed telling you all what the second guy said until I heard back from him.
I expected an email but I just got a phone call. I think the price they gave me was 1260 and I said, Are you going to send me an email (with itemization is what I was thinking) and she said, When you're ready to move forward, we will. So it's clear, don't you think, that they plan no itemization, even for the fan they recommend.
So I asked, what's the make and model of the fan you're suggesting. And she looked at the paperwork and just repeated humidistat, themostat. I asked her to find out. She implied she would. I hope they tell me and I hope it's listed online. The guy who came out had shown me a couple photos but had said they were the office (not me).
Off the bat, she read me a list of 4 problems, the same that he told me when he got down from the ladder: The ridge rail which they will replace; the fan; some popping nails (under shingles I guess); and fourth, one soft piece of plywood, next to the ridge, right where you all saw the damaged, sagging ridge rail.
I hope I don't have a problem getting a price without the fan.
(BTW, the roofer said he would connect the new fan to my old wiring. I installed the fan myself and I know you don't really NEED an electrician to connect two wires, but isn't it unusual for a licensed trademan to go outside his specialty? Will they have someone an employee licensed to do electrical work, will they bring in an electrician for an hour, or will they just do it themselves regardless of rules? What's your best guess?????
So I went up in the attic just now. Lost 30 pounds by last May when I last went into the attic, put them all back on and could barely get up there I was so big. (Getting down was easy for some reason.)
A, the fan blade doesn't look like new like I said it did. It's got rust, but it doesn't vibrate so what do I care. If need be, from the inside I can remove and wire wheel the fan blade and it will look like new again, or I can buy a new blade ($18 on ebay. With motor about 80.). B, I tried to move the fan housing, below the screen, but it is firmly held in place now, so what do I care about rust. C, It hasn't rained more than a tiny bit here for weeks, so I coudln't catch it when dripping, but there was a big wet spot right in the middle of the attic, that not only hadnn't dried out, it was a puddle about 6" acroos, on the patchwork wood "floor", and above it there was a very soggy piece of plywood, the very piece that they plan to replace, with
1" circle of wood missing. It wasn't like that when I was up there in May. I put a kitchen size garbage can under where I think it's dripping, probably big enough to hold the leak for a year, if the leak didn't get worse (which of course it will)m but until June at least The drip in my bedrooom is 4 to 6 feet away. I know water can travel and it did.The guy who inspected the roof said that fans have to replaced periodically. Is this true? Why? The motor and blade can be replaced from the inside, without touching the roof.
Unrelated to the roof, D, I saw no evidence of a vent pipe from the first floor powder room. I wouldn't be surprised if they vented it to inside the first floor ceiling. (But I never use it so it doesn't matter, to me. Should my 100 neighbors of almost identical houses be concerned? Should I warn them, even though there's little they can do about it? This room doesn't have a tub or shower, just potential odors.)
And E, I was wrong about the opening along the ridge. This time I took a tape up there and it's 5 inches, from the front piece of plywood to the back. Longer than was supposed to be universal but shorter than what I said years ago.
** I don't mind but think someone related to next door must have been walking on my roof, and the soft plywood sagged and bent the ridge rail that was nailed to it, and then they separated. The 2nd roofer said our ridge rails don't match, so since they did 13 years ago, one of the several owners since then must have replaced it without talking to me.