Celotex

Description

[Celotex Company] A brand name for a variety of fiberboards made from bagasse (sugar cane waste) and/or mineral fibers. The Celotex Company was founded in 1925 to produce the insulating tiles and boards. Celotex products were treated to resist fungi, termites, and water. The boards had a rough, weblike surface that accepted paint well, but they became brittle and friable with age. Low-density Celotex boards were used in the 1930s for heat and sound insulation in such buildings as the White House, Washington D.C. and Rockefeller Center in New York City (Jester, 1995). The popular Acousti-Celotex ceiling tiles were perforated then stenciled with paints. Medium density fiberboard were used as supports for brick, siding, stucco, and roof shingles. In 1937, Celotex introduced Cemesto, a fire-resistant insulation board that was surfaced with asbestos cement. Cemesto was used in low-cost housing, gasoline stations, factories, and office buildings.

Synonyms and Related Terms

fiberboard; Acousti-Celotex; Cemesto

Additional Information

° Celotex Website

° C. Gould, K. Konrad, K. Milley, R. Gallagher, "Fiberboard", in Twentieth-Century Building Materials, T. Jester (ed.), McGraw-Hill: New York, 1995.

° "Celotex-Houses from Sugar Cane: Mr. Bror Dahlberg and His Company," Fortune 19 (Feb. 1939): 80-84.

Sources Checked for Data in Record

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 98

• Ralph Mayer, A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques, Harper and Row Publishers, New York, 1969 (also 1945 printing)

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• Thomas C. Jester (ed.), Twentieth-Century Building Materials, McGraw-Hill Companies, Washington DC, 1995

• Website address 1 Comment: http://www.pmpr.co.uk/celotex.htm

• Website address 2 Comment: www.celotex.com/products/residential