insure that the barrier boards 12 are securely attached to the wall w toward this end the barrier boards 12 may be secured to the wall w using any appropriate mechanical fastener and or any appropriate adhesive mechanical fasteners useful in securing the barrier boards 12 to the wall w include staples nails and screws or the like adhesives useful for securing the barrier boards 12 to the wall w include liquid nails hot melt glue or the like in accordance with an additional aspect of the present invention a lead paint warning label 16 may be provided on the outer surface the surface away from the wall of at least one and preferably all the barrier boards 12 so as to inform anyone that a lead paint hazard exists behind the barrier boards 12 for certain applications and particularly where building codes or consumers desire additional fire protection an optional glass mat layer 18 is provided over the barrier boards 12 see second embodiment illustrated in fig3 typically a clay filled glass mat such as vl3550 glass mat available from owens coming is used for the glass mat layer 18 this material provides excellent fire resistance properties such a glass mat is very thin on the order of less than about 0 15875 cm thick in order to insure optimum fire resistance properties the edges of the individual glass mats making up the glass mat layer 18 are overlapped so as to avoid open joints therebetween the glass mats of the layer 18 are securely held in place by appropriate fasteners and or adhesives as described above.