opening up a chimney breast for wood burning stove

Hello

I would like some details on how to open up a chimney breast to fit a wood burning stove.

This is what I have in mind but would like opinion on it and any advice would be greatly recieved.

Remove a row of bricks and insert a concrete reinforced lintel

(What size / type should the lintel be?)

Then remove bricks below the lintel, square up, board out and plaster.

What should I do about sealing up the area around the 'outlet' for the wood burner?

Is there a specific type of plaster board I should use.

I intend to have the chimney swept and a liner fitted.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks in advance

This will give you a bit more info :

http://hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/installing_a_woodstove