Update - S18 fixed the doorbell issue. The electrical tape on the old bell was so old it didn't hold the wires so i was not aware that the 2 wires were taped together... my bad... totally.
And, H would have figured that out if he hadn't felt the outside wire was bad --- there is a lot of exposed wire that needs to be fixed.
I called H and let him know the issue was solved. He made sure to tell me to has S18 use shrink wrap on wire and not tape and he knows S18 has some.
I apologized for sending him up into the attic like that... that was not easy moving around on the trusses. He said no worries.
I suppose the correct thing to do would be to send a thank you text later????
