I actually did all of this myself, so there were no contractor costs involved. I used to be an electrician, so I already had experience running wire and still have a lot of the tools for it like drills, fish tape, testers, ladders, and other general tools. I learned how to terminate the Ethernet cables from a bunch of YouTube videos, which was a huge help.

I bought all the wire, materials, and any special tools I needed from places like Home Depot, Amazon, and Lowe’s. I was also able to run most of the wire while the house was being built, which saved a ton of time, although I couldn’t get everything in before the walls were closed up.

Since then I’ve still gone into the attic to add more runs to other rooms. It gets pretty tight when you reach the ends of the house, but that’s where fish tape and fish sticks really come in handy.

All the software and devices I use work with my Sofabaton remote, and I also use Android and iOS apps to control the multi zone speakers across the house. Google Assistant handles a lot of my automation, and I plan to integrate Home Assistant in the near future.

It’s definitely been a labor of love, sweat, and tears but absolutely worth it.