The ongoing electrical saga of Gateway Station [4]
I didn't provide many updates because life got really heckin' busy but here's what's up with our power situation!
We got all the quotes back and went with the higher quote, because it was better researched and looked a lot more accurate. They only missed one thing that cost us $480 extra. The full bill is about $15,000. 
Homeowner's insurance is covering about $7,000 of that, thankfully-- but only $3k up front.
(continued)
The ongoing electrical saga of Gateway Station [5]
We put it all on a credit card and opted for some upgrades that would have cost twice as much to put in at a later date. Once the insurance company pays out the rest, we'll be able to pay down most of the balance from our card.
We're now fully wired back up with 4 brand new circuits and a brand new expanded breaker panel to replace a single circuit and ancient essentially non-functional breaker-panel which were all serious fire hazards.
The ongoing electrical saga of Gateway Station [Ending!]
So where does that leave us?
Our home now has:
• New circuits where a patch-job of fire hazards once was!
• A new patch panel to replace the ancient one that wasn't working (as in, "even open electrical arcs don't trip the breakers" 
)!
• A generator cut-over for power outages!
• New ground loops with new house-wide surge protection! :D :D
And it only cost us… *checks* All of our money plus a couple grand! D: D:
re: The ongoing electrical saga of Gateway Station [Ending!]
@mawr Yikes.... at least it will be resolved... but ooof on the cost :(
Genny cut-over is good... especially since you can have a lot of options for that and eventually things like a battery backup in between... given your location... probably want CNG or Diesel when you can swing it.
