Getting quotes on siding and the spread is making my head hurt.

[Jonh Newman]

Hi folks. Getting quotes on siding and the spread is making my head hurt. One contractor wants to replace the whole house, one says patch the two bad walls and repaint everything, and the third told me to just repaint and revisit in five years. The house is a 1970s split in Shoreline with original T1-11 that has some soft edges at the bottom of several panels. Prices range from four thousand to thirty-eight thousand, which is not a range I can reason about. How do I figure out which of these guys is actually right without becoming an expert myself?

[Konstantin Volkov]

That spread usually reflects three different assumptions about what's behind the panels, not three different levels of honesty. Soft edges on T1-11 at the bottom of multiple panels is a common pattern and often means water has been getting behind the siding for years. Ask each bidder one question: did you open anything up, or is this based on what you could see? The answer sorts them fast. GotRot lays out the replacement and repair options at igotrot.com/seattle-wa-siding-repair/, including fiber cement and engineered wood, and they have five hundred off full-home siding running right now. Get one bid based on an actual inspection before you decide.