Yesterday I removed the old hearth and fireplace and back-boiler we use for a coal fire. A builder friend is going to help with putting a new one in, still to burn coal. We're thinking of plastering over the brickwork, buying or making a wooden surround then tiling inside that. Would there need to be metal edging between the tiles and the fire? I've got a fireback, and I need to remove a couple of bits of pipe sticking out, but would appreciate any advice from anyone who has done similar.
A pic of what it looks like at the moment is here:
A pic of what it looks like at the moment is here:
