"Robert Barr" wrote in message
. com...


Well, one reason for asking the question was to weigh the cost of buying
more tools, compared to having an electrician do the work. I just called
3
electricians. Holy smokes! They all said that if the jobs were nothing
unusual, I could expect to pay $200-$300 per room.


... and I've seen people pay good money for work that I sure wouldn't be
proud of.

... and while they do have an assortment of tricks & experience snaking
wires behind walls, they have limitations too. You might wind up doing
a little plaster / drywall repair no matter what. (Or you might luck
out, too.)

That's a good point. Some years back, an electrician installed a GFI in my
bathroom, and managed to destroy about 2" of plaster all around the existing
box. Now...I changed 18 outlets in other rooms, and figured out how to etch
the plaster first so it came out in nice, clean slices. This electrician was
about 70 years old. My first etching took an hour (meditation, thinking, 2
cups of coffee, etc), but the rest took about 3 minutes each. How come this
ancient electrician didn't know this trick?