Have you found the studs, using a stud finder? If your building has them, that's what you want--the studs. also, to throw another idea into the mix, my 1921 apartment building (a co-op, which means I own my apt, which means i don't need my landlord's permission to put holes in the wall) does not have studs OR wood lathe. It's plaster (about 3/4" to 1" thick) over metal, over brick. No brick on the INSIDE walls; I think those are either true plasterboard or plaster brick, and they hold themselves up; again, no studs. Don't ask me why, or how it all hands together, but it's been standing quite sturdily since 1921 and there are NO studs. Framing around doors, but no studs. To install Elfa-type shelving, we used a hammer drill to drill into the brick (about 3 inches below the surface of the plaster) and Tapcon screws (intended for installation in concrete) to fasten things to the brick itself. (I thought I had found a stud, drilled into it, and discovered it was the BX cable for the electrical wires--fortunately, I was acting sort of gingerly and didn't pierce the BX) I *did* however hit a gap and the brick (which I couldn't drill through w/ my wood bit). what helped us a lot was that someone else in our building had renovated, and had pictures of the "inside" of the walls (there isn't an inside, really). And, that my "uncle" had run into this construction before as well; fortunately I called him for advice, or happened to speak to him on the phone as we were trying to figure out where the heck the studs were. Ask around the building and see what other people have done, and what they know about its consstruction. (if you're renting, you could ask your landlord,) Also call anyone you know who has done DIY in a SIMILAR AGE of building. I will say that our kitchen cabinets are mounted in the plaster-brick or plasterboard walls w/ anchors, and they're very very sturdy.

Hi all, I first want to thank you all so much for your comments and observations. The insight and knowledge on the GardenWeb forums is tremendous and I learn so much. Before I forget, Paul (paul4x4), you commented on the size of the bricks in the living room fireplace. I don't have any idea if the fireplace or chimney was altered. I do know that my chimney guy said that the fireplace/chimney is not large enough to be safe for wood burning--and that it is unlined, so that we should not burn wood in it without having a liner put it. Something about the fact that burning wood would send flames too high into that chimney. I have an update to respond to tzmaryg's comments about what's behind the radiator. Due to a leak in another part of the hot water heating system, the system had to be drained and I took the opportunity to have the plumbers also disconnect the radiator and move it out so I could get behind there. First, there was a plywood-like panel covered with the light color wallpaper that I had removed from the rest of the wall. This panel was just nailed into the white wood of the mantle surround on one side with small nails, so I took those out and pulled the panel away. Here are photos of what I found behind it: Long view--see that dark round-ish patch in the center of the peeling wallpaper? That's a 5" hole going into the chimney!: Close up of hole: Looking through the hole into the chimney: Needless to say, seeing an empty hole going into the chimney sort of freaked me out--even if it has been there for quite a number of years. This chimney takes the gases from the boiler. I had the chimney guy out today to seal it up. If it was a stovepipe for smoke going into the chimney, is it weird that the wallpaper looks like it would have been tucked up right against the pipe at the time? In the close up pic, you can see how the wallpaper goes right up to the edge of the hole. tzmaryg, I was *so* hoping to see some decorative tile behind the plywood panel. :-) Thanks again to all for your input!

Wow...it's great to see what everyone is doing/has done. Moonkat--you are my hero. I LOVE what you did!! I got rid of my chimney about 2 years ago and it was one of the best decisions I've made in regards to the house. I have a small kitchen (maybe 10 x 10?) and the fridge was basically in the middle of it. Getting rid of the chimney meant we could build a "built in" cubby for the fridge and open the space in the rest of the kitchen. I've posted some photo links below.) I agree with what most posters have said--esp regarding an engineer. We could also see from the attic that there was space all the way around so it wasn't holding anything. We had 2 people look at it just to triple check. In terms of the process, it wasn't *nearly* as hard as ripping out my awful, awful kitchen tiles. :-( They were 18 x 18 and it took about 16 hours to get them all up. It was back breaking and mess and with none of the thrill of the chimney demo because they wouldn't "pop" up the way the bricks would "pop" off. :-) (The key to that, if nobody has said it, is to place the chisel right at the mortar seam where it meets the brick. It worked 90% of the time. We used both electric and human powered tools and it moved amazingly quickly.) Other thoughts... The worst parts were (1) patching the roof---this job isn't bad **but** we were working in summer. It gave us a new esteem for roofers--it must have been 120 degrees up there. So, I'd say work in a season when it's cool, if you can. In a cooler season, this would have been easy. (2) Dust. We put down drop cloths but not enough and although we hung plastic "drapes" dust really got everywhere. Keep in mind that we'd have to open the "drapes" every time we wheeled a new load of bricks outside so the dust in the air could float. An old theater trick--have a spray bottle handy and spray the air. The dust settles. And, maybe some kind of hepa filter. Keep the air-con *off* so the dust doesn't get into the system. You might even cover vents. Put a fan in any windows facing out so the dust gets sucked out. Oh yea...buy the best air mask you can! Next time I would probably *move* the furniture into other rooms. All in all this wasn't that bad. The plaster was heavy as heck and poured into the wire so that was worse than the bricks themselves. That part I rather liked (but I'm weird.) At the time, I didn't have a shopvac. I can see where that would be useful. For anyone interested, here are some photos. Sorry I can't get live links but you can cut and paste. Some of the photos on this page are obviously staged, but if you scroll through, you can see the heavy plaster, chicken wire stuff, etc...as we go along. Sorry that I can't seem to aggregate them. -->Old chimney behind the pot rack: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/?action=view&current=IMG_1664.jpg CHIMNEY GOING DOWN: http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/IMG_3095.jpg http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/IMG_3098.jpg GONE: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/?action=view&current=IMG_3100.jpg http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/?action=view&current=IMG_3099.jpg (It was very tempting to keep the space open.) NEW FRIDGE CUBBY: http://s77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/?action=view&current=IMG_3120.jpg http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j49/andi956/IMG_3132.jpg In the 2 years since I posted, the kitchen has had yet more remodeling. If you look at the album in general, you can see a side door, etc. I walled that up, put in cabs, moved the stove, cut a pass through into another wall, gutted the tile, added a dishwasher, added crown moulding, etc. (Well, *I* didn't do all that...I needed help...much better at *destruction* than construction.) Lastly, here's where we talked about it in 2006. http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/remodel/msg071448024576.html Good luck!! Andi

I’m not an absolutist curmudgeon against all remodeling. Do No Harm isn’t applicable to the 00’s McMansion. Or some of the 70’s tract ranches. All of the harm inflicted on those was done in the beginning, and they have no place to go but up. But you just know that some Philistine somewhere sees Falling Water as just some pile of leaky concrete and stone and would propose bulldozing it in favor of a Mini Mart and 24 hour bait shop. Not every home needs to be preserved. Just the well designed ones. This is a well designed home. So much so that any changes should be approached only by ensuring that they are in harmony with the original intent of the design. It’s physically painful to think of anyone putting up shiplap and painting any of it gray. 10 minutes fads are usually bad ones. Wait 5 years If its good design, it will still be good design. If it’s bad design, you’ll wonder what you were thinking.