Well the kitchen walls are down. I’m shocked at how much it opens up the place. It’s a little 978 square foot ranch and there was no reason for a kitchen and a dinette but there they were. Now I’ve got a big kitchen / Living room with a half wall in between. Very cool.

I’ve been trying for a week to get an electrician. Holy cow. What a ton of work that is. One guy tells me the going rate is $65 an hour — another $70 an hour. That’s over $135,000 per year and that’s without overtime!

This project is getting more expensive every time I turn around.

It turns out that I’ve got fiberglass wool in my attic for insulation. I’ve had to shovel it all off of the kitchen area so an electrician can get to it, otherwise I’m going to be paying an arm and a leg.

Insulation guys disagree on the best material. One wants to put more fiberglass wool up there after the project is done and another wants to top it off with cellulose. I’ve already got a bunch of fiberglass bats so if I go with the cellulose, which is how I’m leaning, I’ll have three types in the attic.

So I now think I’m going to end up doing my own drywall. That way I won’t have to wait for anyone and I can get it done in less than a week. I’ll be able to put it up in a half day and I’ll be able to mud it twice in a two day period. That means I’ve got to plan for 4 days in case something goes wrong.