More whole house fan frustration

I am amazed that anyone has a whole house fan. How do they get through the process? I assume not everyone is willing to crawl up into the 130 degree attic and do measurements. Part of the problem is that our attic is so tightly packed that there are very few places the fan can go. The attic is small to begin with (less than 6' at center, and sloping to zero at the sides), and all the heating ducts and a lot of the electrical conduits are up there. In some of the places where the fan could fit area-wise, there isn't adequate vertical clearance for the insulated doors to open.

I finally got the General Contractor's quote, and it was way too high. It was more than the entire heating system cost, and that included the heater itself, thermostat, all new ducts and removal of old heater. Part of the cost, however, is not really related to the fan. We should have ventilation in the roof and the fact that we don't is a building defect. If the building was up to code, we could just put the fan in and

C and I decided to hire out the various jobs and see if we can save some money. We can do the actual fan installation ourselves, but need a roofer to install the ventilation and an electrician to move some electrical components to make room for the fan. The fan installation itself would mean removing the trim from the trap door and enlarging the opening so the fan can fit into the attic. Then we would cut a hole in the ceiling drywall in the hallway. We would frame the opening of the hole by adding two pieces of wood between the joists to form a box. Then you apply weatherstripping to seal the hole, drop the fan in, bolt it down, connect the parts, install the grill on top and plug it in. A lot more work than it sounds like, particularly in the very tight, very hot space of the attic.

I also started installing the kitchen cabinet handles. The cabinets have been in about two years, and I am finally getting to this. It will be so nice not to have to use my foot or pry with my fingernails to open a cabinet.

These lower cabinets are used almost every day, so this is where I started. I'm saving the drawers for last because they are much more difficult.

This is a trick I learned watching home shows. Since the prior incompetent contractor installed a few of the handles already, I used his work to make a template of where the holes go. I put the box on the corner of the door, use a marker to mark where to drill and viola, no measuring.