Thanks everyone, for the advice. This kind of problem needs to be frowned at, in person, by someone who can trace a lot of paths in mind. That's not me.
I am the "general builder(jack of all trades-master of none)", andylea, and have done both new electrical work and some upgrading in this house. I'm sorry that because in your specialized function you only get to see the problems, you have a bad opinion of people like myself. Consider all the work done by non-electricians which you will never see or care to notice because it was done perfectly. Consider people like myself who do check back on their work and take full responsibility for it. You don't get to see that.
Now I'll put the circuit map and testing data legibly on paper so the electrician won't have to do all of that over again. With luck, the answer will be plain to someone with more experience.
