Retiling fireplace advice

[johnwo00]

Hi all

Looking to DIY my fireplace which currently has a lot of broken brick. Any advice on

(1) how to remove the black cast iron pieces [photo 1]

(2) should I board over the brick before tiling or tile directly over the brick? I want to tile over the brick to make it look like photo 3

The fireplace is only for aesthetics

 

[Odds]

Well, if you want to create a herring bone pattern using tiles and make as much space as possible then the f.place will have to come out. A messy, sweary business, but if you can wrestle it out without too much trouble then all you need do is fill the gaps, clean the brick and p.board around the walls for a smooth surface to tile over. For more ideas consider the Japanese art of Tokonoma...