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Flexboard (Johns-Manville)

Flexboard was a Johns-Manville asbestos-cement sheet, thin enough to bend, used as a building board inside and outside.1,2,3 When J-M introduced it in February 1935, Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, described "a new and inexpensive building material—an asbestos cement sheet," made in a decorative style in pastel colors that ran all the way through the sheet and a standard style for utilitarian uses.1 A 1953 J-M brochure described a non-combustible building board in 4 by 8 or 4 by 4 foot sheets, 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4 inch thick, formed under pressure and then re-pressed.2 Later versions included De Luxe Flexboard, with a fabric-pattern finish, in 1950, and Permatone "S" Flexboard, with a factory-applied finish, in 1969.3,4

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When and where it was made

A 1990 EPA notice that published what Manville reported says Flexboard was produced from 1934 to 1987.5 An insurance company's 1981 list of asbestos products, compiled from other companies' answers in lawsuits, gives Flexboard, listed as sheet, as made from 1927 to 1975.6

J-M installed a new machine for standard and decorative Flexboard at its Nashua, New Hampshire plant in 1942.7 J-M's 1953 annual report included new Flexboard facilities at Pittsburg, California, and a 1969 J-M survey names a Flexboard Department there; a former J-M employee, interviewed in 1978, recalled the Pittsburg plant starting Flexboard around the late 1950s.8,9,10 A 1960 J-M engineering report describes a Flexboard forming machine at the Manville, New Jersey factory.11 In Canada, Canadian Johns-Manville said in 1959 that its plants made Flexboard that had once been imported from the United States, and a 1975 notice mentions a Flexboard building at the Toronto plant.12,13

What it was made of

Manville's 1990 report gives one range for a group of its asbestos-cement sheets, Flexboard among them: 40 to 70 percent asbestos fiber, with 15 to 50 percent portland cement, up to 8 percent dry asphalt size and up to 12 percent pigment.5 A 1970 J-M ad said the boards were "reinforced with asbestos fibers to increase strength and fire protection."14

Where it was used

Asbestos magazine reported 1/8 inch Flexboard on the new ceiling of Grand Central Terminal in 1946, and Flexboard going onto 10,000 rental units in the San Francisco area in 1948.15,16 J-M offered it as a veneer on insulating board for factory walls in 1938, used it in the kitchen and bathroom of its model home at the Golden Gate Exposition in 1939, and in 1956 published a booklet, "How to Build a Flexboard Garage."17,18,19 In 1949 J-M said its uses ran from switchboard panels and table tops to instrument enclosures and signs.20 A 1970 J-M ad showed it lining dairy barns and milk houses and the walls and ceilings of apartment buildings, and in 1965 Canadian J-M workers applied it on Toronto's new City Hall.14,21 A 1982 report for the EPA named Flexboard as the asbestos-cement sheet commonly used for laboratory fume hood liners.22

See also Flat Transite.

Asbestos claims

If you or a family member worked with or around Flexboard (Johns-Manville) and later developed mesothelioma or another asbestos disease, a claim may be paid by the Manville Personal Injury Settlement Trust. Free case review.

What each document says

Every statement about Flexboard (Johns-Manville) in the documents, in each document's own words.

Asbestos Magazine, 1935, February 1935

  • Sold from: “recently introduced by Johns-Manville”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 101
  • Description: “an asbestos cement sheet; colorful, fireproof and permanent, flexible; decorative and standard styles; colour all the way through”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 101

Asbestos Magazine, 1953, November 1953

  • Description: “non-combustible asbestos-cement building board, 4x8 or 4x4 ft sheets, 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4 in thick, formed under pressure then hydraulically re-pressed”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 42

Asbestos Magazine, 1969, July 1969

  • Description: “Permatone "S" Flexboard, an asbestos-cement building sheet with a factory-applied silicone-base finish; pressed and repressed, steam cured”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 513

Asbestos Magazine, 1950, January 1950

  • Description: “De Luxe Flexboard, a new development; fabric-pattern finish fused into a fireproof sheet of asbestos and cement”, p. 324

Asbestos; Publication of Identifying Information (1990)

  • Made from: “produced 1934 to 1987”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA (Federal Register), p. 155
  • Made until: “produced 1934 to 1987”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA (Federal Register), p. 155
  • Asbestos content: “contained asbestos fiber, 40 to 70%”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA (Federal Register), p. 155
  • Ingredient: “portland cement, 15 to 50%; dry asphalt size, 0 to 8%; pigment, 0 to 12%”, said by Manville Corporation, as recorded by U.S. EPA (Federal Register), p. 155

The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981)

  • Made from: “27”, p. 56
  • Form: “SHEET”, p. 56
  • Made until: “75”, p. 56

Asbestos Magazine, 1942, January 1942

  • Made at: “new machine at J-M's Nashua, N. H. plant for standard and Decorative Flexboard” (at Nashua) (the plant: Nashua, New Hampshire), said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 277

Asbestos Magazine, 1954, February 1954

  • Made at: “new facilities for Flexboard and corrugated Transite sheets at Pittsburg, Calif., completed in 1953” (at Pittsburg) (the plant: Pittsburg, California), said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 468

E. M. Fenner's Report of the Environmental Control Subcommittee Meeting on Electron Microscope Counts and a New Fiber Limit (1970)

  • Made at: “Flexboard Dept. at the Pittsburg Plant (stations over TLV, survey of Nov. 10-14, 1969)” (at Pittsburg) (the plant: Pittsburg, California), p. 119

Notes of Dennis Markusson and Barbara Diemer's Interview of Hugh Jackson on J-M Health and Safety History (1978)

  • Made at: “Pittsburg plant got out of cement and shingle business and started Flexboard around the late 50's” (at Pittsburg) (the plant: Pittsburg, California), said by Hugh Jackson (former J-M), as recorded by Dennis Markusson and Barbara Diemer (interview notes), p. 210

W. F. Fischer on the Rejection of Improved Dust Control for the Manville Rigid Shingles Building (1961), Appropriation request 040-IR-0325 with engineering report, November 30, 1960

  • Made at: “Flexboard forming machine / forming center at the Manville factory (H Building)” (at Manville) (the plant: Manville, New Jersey), p. 411

Asbestos Magazine, 1959, November 1959

  • Made at: “Canadian Johns-Manville plants built or expanded since 1948 make Flexboard and other asbestos-cement products, formerly imported from the United States”, said by Canadian Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 1412

J. R. D. Wilson's Notice to Toronto Plant Employees on Smoking and Asbestos (1975)

  • Made at: “the Flexboard building (where asbestos fibre is stored) at the Toronto plant” (at Toronto) (the plant: Toronto, Ontario), p. 113

Asbestos Magazine, 1970, August 1970

  • Use: “lining dairy barns and milk houses; walls and ceilings in apartment buildings”, p. 1514

Asbestos Magazine, 1946, April 1946

  • Use: “1/8 inch asbestos-cement Flexboard for the new ceiling of Grand Central Terminal (30,000 sq ft)” (sales to Grand Central Terminal, New York), p. 2215

Asbestos Magazine, 1948, September 1948

  • Use: “applied to 10,000 rental units (war-worker housing) in the San Francisco area”, p. 2916

Asbestos Magazine, 1938, May 1938

  • Use: “veneer of Encased Insulating Board in J-M insulated industrial curtain wall for steel frame factory buildings”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 3617

Asbestos Magazine, 1939, May 1939

  • Use: “used in the bathroom and kitchen of J-M's Guildway Model Home, Golden Gate Exposition, Treasure Island”, p. 1718

Asbestos Magazine, 1956, October 1956

  • Use: “"How to Build a Flexboard Garage", J-M 36-page booklet”, said by Johns-Manville, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 3419

Asbestos Magazine, 1949, June 1949

  • Description: “an asbestos-cement product, approved by Underwriters' Laboratories as an incombustible material; uses from switchboard panels and table tops to instrument enclosures and signs”, said by Johns-Manville Sales Corporation, as recorded by Asbestos (magazine), p. 4420

J-M News Pictorial, 1965, October 1965

  • Use: “applied on Toronto's new City Hall; dome ceiling extrusions on stringers supported by Flexboard” (sales to Toronto City Hall), p. 1021

Analysis of Fiber Release from Certain Asbestos Products (1982)

  • Use: “A/C sheet commonly used for laboratory fume hood liners, prefabricated by a secondary processor”, p. 2122

Manville Fund's Answers to Interrogatories in Gunn v. Celotex (1989)

  • Made from: “Date Manufactured: 1927”, p. 11223
  • Warning label: “Date Labeled: 1970”, p. 11223
  • Asbestos content: “33.0 - 50.0 % fiber by weight”, p. 11223
  • Made until: “Date Discontinued: 1983”, p. 11223
  • Made at: “Manville Plant, Manville, New Jersey (1913 through 1985): Flexboard” (at Manville) (the plant: Manville, New Jersey), p. 6223
  • Asbestos content: “asbestos containing”, p. 6223
  • Form: “Board”, p. 11223
  • Asbestos fiber: “Chrysotile”, p. 11223

R. W. Dobson to C. P. Weber on Health Hazard Labels for Marinite and Other Sheet Products (1969)

  • Warning label: “suggests taking no action at this time on labelling of sheet products including Flexboard”, p. 124

E. M. Fenner to D. B. Wingerter on Which Insulation Products to Label (1969)

  • Warning label: “proposed guideline under which Flexboard would be labelled (generates asbestos fiber or crystalline silica dusts in potentially harmful quantities)”, p. 125

The Potter v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to plaintiff's interrogatories with exhibits

  • Description: “tough, fireproof asbestos-cement sheet (weather proofing)”, p. 2126

The Borel v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to interrogatories with exhibits

  • Asbestos content: “fireproof asbestos-cement sheet”, p. 2127
  • Description: “ASBESTOS FLEXBOARD. (Weather Proofing) Tough, fireproof asbestos-cement sheet.”, p. 2127

Johns-Manville Material Safety Data Sheet for FLEXBOARD (1982)

  • Asbestos content: “approx. 20”, p. 128
  • Asbestos fiber: “Chrysotile Asbestos Fiber”, p. 128
  • Ingredient: “Portland Cement 80”, p. 128
  • Description: “asbestos wall/sheet, board” (as of 1927–1975), p. 7829

Manville Fund's Responses to Plaintiffs' Interrogatories in Moore v. H.K. Porter (1990)

  • Made at: “Nashua Plant (1907 to 1985): Flexboard” (at Nashua) (the plant: Nashua, New Hampshire), p. 2430
  • Asbestos content: “asbestos containing”, p. 2230
  • Made at: “Manville Plant (1913 to 1985): Flexboard” (at Manville) (the plant: Manville, New Jersey), p. 2230
  • Made at: “Pittsburgh Plant (1926 to 1980s): Flexboard” (at Pittsburgh) (the plant: Pittsburg, California), p. 2530
  • Made at: “Waukegan Plant (1922 to 1985): Flexboard” (at Waukegan) (the plant: Waukegan, Illinois), p. 2730

Kind of product

We list Flexboard (Johns-Manville) with asbestos-cement pipe, board and sheet, from how the documents describe its form. That page explains how such products exposed workers.

Trades that worked with products like it: Carpenters and Construction Workers, Roofers.

Other asbestos-cement pipe, board and sheet by Johns-Manville (119)

Thermobestos · Min-k · Asbestocel · Metal-on · Flat Transite · Corspan · Dekeran · Equality · Face Span · Facespan · Fine Corrugated Asbestocel · Fire Felt · Flexite · Heat Treated Molted Metal Marinite · Homestead · Imperial Marinite · Korduct · Magno · Marimet 45 · Marine Acoustical Unit · and 99 more on the company's page

Asbestos-cement pipe, board and sheet by other makers (264)

Careytemp (Philip Carey) · Unibestos (Union Asbestos & Rubber Co.) · Unibestos (Pittsburg Corning) · Sal-mo (Nicolet) · Careycel (Philip Carey) · Facad (United States Plywood) · Facade (Cape Universal Bldg. Products of Cape Asbestos Group) · Ferobestos (J. W. Roberts Ltd (Turner & Newall)) · Fiber-Shake (Supradur) · Fiber-Shake Sidewall Shingle (Supradur) · Fire-chex 325 (Philip Carey) · Firefoil (Philip Carey) · Flintite (Flintkote) · Flintite (Orangeburg) · Fluid-Tite (CertainTeed) · Fluid-Tite (Keasbey & Mattison) · Follansbee Terne (Follansbee Steel) · Formboard (Philip Carey) · Frycor (Owens-Corning) · Fyrbestos (Keene/Beh) · and 244 more: all asbestos-cement pipe, board and sheet

See also

References

  1. Asbestos Magazine, 1935, February 1935 (February 1, 1935), p. 10.
  2. Asbestos Magazine, 1953, November 1953 (November 1, 1953), p. 4.
  3. Asbestos Magazine, 1969, July 1969 (July 1, 1969), p. 51.
  4. Asbestos Magazine, 1950, January 1950 (January 1, 1950), p. 32.
  5. Asbestos; Publication of Identifying Information (February 13, 1990), p. 15.
  6. The Travelers Insurance Company's Product Information Booklet for Its Asbestos Seminar (1980–1981) (April 30, 1981), p. 5.
  7. Asbestos Magazine, 1942, January 1942 (January 1, 1942), p. 27.
  8. Asbestos Magazine, 1954, February 1954 (February 1, 1954), p. 46.
  9. E. M. Fenner's Report of the Environmental Control Subcommittee Meeting on Electron Microscope Counts and a New Fiber Limit (January 1, 1970), p. 11.
  10. Notes of Dennis Markusson and Barbara Diemer's Interview of Hugh Jackson on J-M Health and Safety History (November 3, 1978), p. 2.
  11. W. F. Fischer on the Rejection of Improved Dust Control for the Manville Rigid Shingles Building (1961), Appropriation request 040-IR-0325 with engineering report, November 30, 1960 (November 30, 1960), p. 4.
  12. Asbestos Magazine, 1959, November 1959 (November 1, 1959), p. 14.
  13. J. R. D. Wilson's Notice to Toronto Plant Employees on Smoking and Asbestos (June 1, 1975), p. 1.
  14. Asbestos Magazine, 1970, August 1970 (August 1, 1970), p. 15.
  15. Asbestos Magazine, 1946, April 1946 (April 1, 1946), p. 22.
  16. Asbestos Magazine, 1948, September 1948 (September 1, 1948), p. 29.
  17. Asbestos Magazine, 1938, May 1938 (May 1, 1938), p. 36.
  18. Asbestos Magazine, 1939, May 1939 (May 1, 1939), p. 17.
  19. Asbestos Magazine, 1956, October 1956 (October 1, 1956), p. 34.
  20. Asbestos Magazine, 1949, June 1949 (June 1, 1949), p. 44.
  21. J-M News Pictorial, 1965, October 1965 (October 1, 1965), p. 10.
  22. Analysis of Fiber Release from Certain Asbestos Products (December 1, 1982), p. 21.
  23. Manville Fund's Answers to Interrogatories in Gunn v. Celotex (December 7, 1989), p. 112.
  24. R. W. Dobson to C. P. Weber on Health Hazard Labels for Marinite and Other Sheet Products (February 1, 1969), p. 1.
  25. E. M. Fenner to D. B. Wingerter on Which Insulation Products to Label (August 7, 1969), p. 1.
  26. The Potter v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to plaintiff's interrogatories with exhibits (October 14, 1969), p. 21.
  27. The Borel v. Fibreboard Case File (1969-1972), Answers to interrogatories with exhibits (March 27, 1970), p. 21.
  28. Johns-Manville Material Safety Data Sheet for FLEXBOARD (February 25, 1982), p. 1.
  29. Sourcebook on Asbestos Diseases: Medical, Legal, and Engineering Aspects, Volume Two (1986), p. 78. Not yet published in our library.
  30. Manville Fund's Responses to Plaintiffs' Interrogatories in Moore v. H.K. Porter (February 15, 1990), p. 24.

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