Removing false chimney breast

[JamesG]

Hi, I plan to remove a false chimney breast to create space for a media wall. The chimney breast is solid brick but only protrudes 11cm, so I'm hoping it is built 'against' the main wall rather than integrated with it. If so, taking it out shouldn't be too tricky. My question is, what should I do with the wall behind the chimney breast once the bricks have been removed? It will be covered by the stud media wall but should I still finish it with plaster board or something so that it is tidy and insulated? I imagine I'll be left with breeze blocks but not sure.

Thanks

 

[theknobs]

If you are going to be covering it with a stud and plasterboard partition wall, there in no need to do anything else, but if it is an outside wall you might consider some extra insulation to help with the heating bills.
HOWEVER you need to ensure that any continuation of the chimney breast above the room that you are working in is supported safely. This could mean taking it all out up to and above the roof, and retiling where it was or at the least corbelling out at the bottom of it, or some other form of support. Not easy to advise without pics.

 

[JamesG]

Thank you for the response, really helpful. The 'breast' is 11cm deep with a gas fire venting horizontally outside. There's no stack above it, so does seem to be just a cosmetic feature.