How to create recess in the chimney breast to house tv unit?

[j4g3d]

So basically, the chimney has been removed from the roof, so we have just chimney breast in the house. The fire place was boarded off many, many years ago.

The tv is currently hung on the chimney in the living room, which is fine.

But we are thinking to free up some room in the living room, as its small as it is. One way we were thinking was to remove the fireplace hearth and create a recess in the chimney breast to house the: tv receive, ps4, soundbar, nintendo switch, subwoofer..etc.

Is there any precautions needed when doing this job yourself? or is it best to let a pro do the job?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

There will still be some load on the front of the chimney breast from the floor of the room above, and from the rest of the chimney breast in the room above (and in the loft, if it extends that far).
It'll be a messy job
Not sure which will make the least mess- removing the boarding from the fireplace and looking up inside the chimney or hacking the plaster off the breast- whichever, you need to see if the original arch or lintel are still in place. If they are you can do what you like below them. If they aren't (or they are too low for your purposes) then you'll need to put new lintels in (might only need one if the breast is half brick)- not a massive job, hack plaster off to required height plus 4 courses, couple of acros with strongboys to support the breast, pull out bricks, insert lintels, slate, mortar, wait 24 hours for mortar to cure, do what you like in the breast below.
This is a structural alteration so requires building control supervision. If you've never done anything like this before, might be best to get someone else to do it (small builder would be fine, might be a bit of a stretch for a handyman). Usual deal- get a couple of quotes & make sure they include building regs notification on the quotes.

 

[^woody^]

Cut the hole, inset a lintel. You'll need to seal the bare bricks to stop any plaster being stained.