Do I need to plaster over bare brick if behind a cupboard?

[BillyG1539]

Afternoon all. I'm putting some cupboards into a hallway and I plan to make it look built in by scribing MDF all the way around the cupboards. The cupboards are Ikea - I don't have the facilities to build cupboards from scratch and getting them made would be too expensive.

I need to remove the skirting board behind the cupboards to get them far back enough to clear a radiator. My flat is in a Victorian house, so behind the skirting board will be bare brick, with wooden battens screwed into the brick, to screw the skirting board onto.

My question is: if I plan on enclosing the cupboards, do I need to do anything to the bare brick? I'm on the first floor, and the wall is a party wall, so I don't think there are any damp issues to look out for.

If I do need to apply e.g. browning, should I just apply it to the wall, all the way down to the original floorboards?

Thanks in advance for any advice...

 

[Tigercubrider]

Most ikea cupboards have a skirting cut out, although you'd need to make a profile out of card and cut it afresh as Victorian will probably not match.

But if it was me I'd leave the skirting in place and use a fretsaw around the mdf rather than removing it.
The skirting would be a nightmare to replace later, so if you must remove it, keep it somewhere

 

[BillyG1539]

Thanks, but for various tedious reasons that won't work.

 

[^woody^]

If you are not going to see it you don't need plaster.

 

[bluebaron]

Might get a draught though.