Fig. 10.—No woodwork should be permitted closer than 2 inches to the outside face of a chimney. Baseboards in front of chimneys should be protected with asbestos board.
All wooden construction adjacent to chimneys should be insulated. A space of 2 inches should be left between the outside face of a chimney and all wooden beams or joists. This space should be filled with some porous, nonmetallic, incombustible material. Loose cinders serve well. (See [fig. 10].) Do not use brickwork, mortar, or solid concrete. The filling should be done before the floor is laid, as it not only forms a fire stop but prevents accumulation of shavings or other combustible material. Baseboards fastened to plaster which is directly in contact with the outside wall of a chimney should be protected by placing a layer of fireproof material at least one-eighth inch thick between the woodwork and the plaster. (See [fig. 10].)
Fig. 11.—No wooden studding, furring, or lathing should be placed against the chimney. It should be set back as indicated in this figure and in [fig. 12].
Wooden studding, furring, or lathing should not under any circumstances be placed against a chimney. Wooden construction should be set back from the chimney as indicated in figures [11] and [12]; or the plaster may be applied directly to the masonry or to metal lathing laid over the masonry. The former is the better method, as settlement of the chimney will not crack the plaster. It is recommended that a coat of cement plaster be applied directly upon the masonry of any parts of a chimney that are to be incased by a wooden partition or other combustible construction.
Fig. 12.