First off this is a super well documented question, second to get the obvious out of the way, have you enabled "assistive touch"? As you may know, Assistive touch will place a virtual, yet fully functional home button on your home screen. The button itself is not super difficult to replace. Depending on the model it may be held in place by a small metal bracket and two small screws. Getting the iPad open safely is another obstacle. I would definitely recommend using assistive touch as it is the less invasive option. I apologize I cannot help further.