CertainTeed

Formation

The company was established in 1904 as the General Roofing Manufacturing Company by George M. Brown in St. Louis, Illinois with $25,000 in start up capital. In 1917, the company restructured, incorporated, and changed its name to the Certain-teed Products Corporation. It began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1918.

Milestones

1912 - General Roofing publishes its first annual report.
1913 - General Roofing began manufacturing individual asphalt shingles.
1923 - CertainTeed enters gypsum plaster business and begins manufacturing gypsum wallboard.
1923 - Company headquarters relocates from St. Louis to New York, NY.
1935 - George M. Brown resigns as President and CEO.
1938 - Celotex Corporation takes control of CertainTeed acquiring a majority of the common stock.
1942 - Company headquarters relocates from New York to Chicago, Illinois.
1944 - Rawson G. Lizars wins proxy battle and takes control of CertainTeed from Celotex.
1942 - CertainTeed is awarded a national defense contract.
1948 - Company headquarters relocates from Chicago to Ardmore, PA.
1951 - CertainTeed introduces "Fire-Stop" gypsum wallboard.
1952 - CertainTeed opens its first R&D facility in Paoli, PA.
1955 - Malcolm Meyer becomes President of CertainTeed.
1959 - CertainTeed develops the industry's first fully automatic shingle packaging machine.
1969 - CertainTeed begins producing solid vinyl siding.
1970 - Company headquarters relocates from Ardmore to Valley Forge, PA.
1973 - Saint-Gobain increases its shareholdings in CertainTeed to 32%.
1976 - CertainTeed Products Corporation changes its name to CertainTeed Corporation.
1976 - Saint-Gobain becomes majority shareholder increasing its ownership to 52%.
1979 - CertainTeed pioneers the development of vinyl windows.
1983 - Saint-Gobain increases its ownership position in CertainTeed to 57%.
1988 - CertainTeed becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of Saint-Gobain.
1998 - CertainTeed enters fiber cement siding business acquiring Roaring River, NC facility from ABT Building Products.
2004 - CertainTeed celebrates its 100th anniversary.
2008 - CertainTeed enters polyurethane spray foam in North America.

Mergers and Acquisitions

In 1954 CertainTeed acquired Wm. Cameron & Co, a major building supplies wholesaler.
In 1954 Western Gypsum is purchased by BPB which becomes CertainTeed Gypsum in 2006.
In 1962 CertainTeed acquired the pipe division of Keasbey and Mattison Company, the second largest US producer of A/C pipe.
In 1964 CertainTeed acquired the fiber glass manufacturing facilities of the Pall Corporation.
In 1965 CertainTeed acquired Plains Plastic Inc, a manufacturer of PVC pipe.
In 1966 Gustin-Bacon Manufacturing, a manufacturer of specialty fiber glass products, merges with CertainTeed.
In 1966 the company merged with Gustin-Bacon Manufacturing Corporation, a producer of fiberglass products.
In 1968 CertainTeed acquires controlling interest in Modular Sciences Inc.
In 1969 CertainTeed acquires Bowles & Eden Co and the Rohan Company, pipe distribution businesses.
In 1970 CertainTeed acquires Realtec Inc and establishes Builders Investment Group, an REIT.
In 1986 CertainTeed acquires AirVent, Inc, a manufacturer of attic and ridge vents.
In 1987 CertainTeed acquires Bay Mills, Ltd.
In 1988 CertainTeed was acquired by Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA (March 25, 1988).
In 1988 CertainTeed acquires Wolverine Technologies.
In 1989 CertainTeed acquires Ludowici Roof Tile, Inc.
In 1996 CertainTeed acquires Bufftech Vinyl Fencing.
In 1998 CertainTeed acquires Bird Roofing.
In 1999 CertainTeed acquires Unisul and GS Roofing.
In 2000 CertainTeed acquires Celotex Roofing.
In 2000 CertainTeed acquires Brunswick Technologies, Inc.
In 2007 CertainTeed acquires Vytec Vinyl Siding.
In 2009 CertainTeed acquires Ottawa Fibre expanding its insulation presence into Canada.

Operations

CertainTeed operates 65 manufacturing plants in the United States and Canada. Certainteed manufacturs products for four industries : Roofing, Insulation, Gyspum and Ceilings. It exports building products to more than 50 countries. CertainTeed has held more than 350 patents on its products in the past 30 years. In 2015, CertainTeed was recognized as the top brand in Siding: insulated, Siding: Vinyl categories, Roofing: Clay/Concrete/Synthetic Tiles, and Roofing Photovoltaic categories.

Litigation

Historically, CertainTeed was a major manufacturer of asbestos-cement pipes for water utilities for many decades. Asbestos was mixed into the cement as a binder. CertainTeed phased out the use of asbestos in its products around 1990. As a result, CertainTeed is now a major defendant in product liability lawsuits brought by persons who worked on water utility projects and their families.

On April 29, 2010, in a product liability case filed by a mesothelioma patient whose husband used to cut CertainTeed pipe for a living, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury returned a verdict of $8.8 million in compensatory damages and $200 million in punitive damages against CertainTeed and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The allocation of fault was 70% to CertainTeed and 30% to LADWP. On July 21, 2010, the Court overturned this verdict, and specifically granted CertainTeed's post-trial motions, holding that the punitive damage award was unconstitutional, that the amount of punitive damages could not exceed the amount of compensatory damages, and that a new trial was required on all issues. The case is currently on appeal.

A class action suit brought by representatives of the end users against CertainTeed Organic Shingles was approved on September 1, 2010. The complaint was that the shingles were subject to early failure or did not perform as expected by warranty. Some 30 years shingles only lasted 10 years. CertainTeed denies that the shingles were faulty, but quit manufacturing that particular type in 2005. The Court’s role in the Settlement was to make sure there was a proper and fair settlement and did not decide in favor of either the Class or CertainTeed.

Throughout 2011 and 2012, many home owners that purchased CertainTeed Fiber Cement Siding (also called WeatherBoards Fiber Cement exterior siding) filed class action lawsuits against the manufacturer due to problems with shrinking, cracking and warping.