[LEFT]Hello all! We bought a 1925 year old home for our first project and so far it’s been very interesting as old homes are! Then kitchen was an addition to our home in 1982. The homeowners before us did a quick job of updating the kitchen and there’s a lot of things that need fixed and repaired. One issue being the slop painted beadboard with dried drip paint. I’m not a hug fan of bead board so we decided to tear it out. What we found behind it is a HUGE question mark. The rest of our home is normal plaster with lath behind it...this kitchen looks like, what I can best describe as, Ceramic tile sheets (not real tile. If we bust it off it comes off in pieces.) that go up halfway and then blended with plaster above. Underneath both of these materials is no lath just blown in insulation and studs. We have one hole in the wall and if I move the insulation you can see the siding of the home where we believe there used to be a vent. Underneath the window is a different material which I am guessing was used to cover up what used to be a door maybe? We’ve been told to get 1/4 drywall and just drywall over all of it. Is this the best idea or should we bust out everything and put in new issulation and then drywall?? I added pictures below. Thanks for any input![/LEFT]

For my kitchen make over dream.....(actually just new counter tops). I really like laminate counter tops. Look great and waaay less expensive than other kitchen counter top materials. However I really want an under mount sink. Unfortunately what I am hearing is home owners (from all across the country) who say they love their laminate kitchen counter top and have under mount sinks. Yet I got "official" reply's from Formica, WilsonArt and the local "box" stores that they don't recommend under mount sinks with laminate. Or that there is a special sink by Karran they recommend. The nearest Karran dealer to me said he had Karran but wouldn't recommend it! Then someone mentioned drop in flush mount sinks.....by Blanco....starts at $2,500. or something crazy like that! But I haven't gotten much information about other drop in flush mount sinks, hopefully less expensive. So are under mount sinks and laminate another of my impossible dreams? Are drop in flush mount sinks a good option, assuming they work with laminate?