Bird & Son’s Inc. — Asbestos Roofing Products and Trust Fund Information

Bird & Son’s Inc. of East Walpole, Massachusetts, was among the oldest and most established manufacturers of building materials in the United States. For more than a century, the company produced roofing shingles, roofing felt, and related construction products that were widely installed across American homes and commercial buildings. From roughly the 1920s through 1978, many of those products contained asbestos. Roofers, construction laborers, and building renovation workers who handled Bird & Son’s materials during those decades may have sustained significant asbestos exposure. A dedicated asbestos personal injury trust — the Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust — has been established to compensate eligible claimants.

Company History

Bird & Son’s Inc. was founded in 1795, making it one of the oldest continuously operating manufacturing enterprises in American history at the time of its peak production years. Based in East Walpole, Massachusetts, the company built its reputation supplying roofing and building materials to the construction trades across the eastern United States and, eventually, nationwide.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Bird & Son’s expanded its product lines significantly to meet the demands of a rapidly growing residential and commercial construction market. The company became a well-known brand among roofing contractors and building supply distributors. By the early twentieth century, asbestos had become a widely adopted additive in roofing and building products due to its fire resistance, durability, and ability to strengthen fibrous materials like felt and shingles. Bird & Son’s incorporated asbestos into a broad range of its product lines beginning in the 1920s.

The company continued manufacturing asbestos-containing roofing products through most of the twentieth century, ceasing asbestos use in 1978. By that time, the health hazards of asbestos exposure were becoming subjects of regulatory scrutiny and civil litigation. Bird & Son’s faced mounting asbestos personal injury claims tied to occupational exposure to its products and ultimately filed for bankruptcy protection as a mechanism to resolve those liabilities. As part of that resolution, the Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust was established to provide compensation to workers and others with documented asbestos-related injuries linked to the company’s products.

Asbestos-Containing Products

Bird & Son’s manufactured several distinct asbestos-containing product lines that were distributed to construction jobsites across the United States for more than five decades.

Bird Asbestos Roofing Shingles (1920s–1978)

Bird asbestos roofing shingles were produced for the residential and light commercial construction markets from the 1920s through 1978. These shingles contained chrysotile asbestos fibers bonded into the shingle material to improve fire resistance, weathering performance, and structural integrity. They were sold through lumber yards and building supply distributors and were installed on countless homes throughout the mid-twentieth century. Cutting, trimming, nailing, and handling these shingles — particularly with power saws or in dry, dusty conditions — generated respirable asbestos-containing dust.

Bird Asbestos-Reinforced Roofing Felt

Roofing felt reinforced with asbestos fibers was a foundational Bird & Son’s product. Applied beneath shingles and other roofing surfaces as an underlayment, this felt was used extensively in residential and commercial roofing projects. Asbestos was incorporated into the felt to add tensile strength and fire-retardant properties. Workers who cut, rolled, or stapled this felt on open rooftops were exposed to asbestos fibers, particularly in windy conditions that could disperse loose fibers across a work area.

Bird Flexiglas Asphalt Roofing Products

Bird Flexiglas products represented a line of asphalt-based roofing materials manufactured and sold by Bird & Son’s during the period when asbestos was commonly used as a reinforcing or stabilizing agent in asphalt roofing. These products were marketed for their flexibility and weatherproofing characteristics. The asbestos content in asphalt roofing products could be released during installation, removal, or weathering and deterioration of aged materials on existing structures.

Bird Asbestos Flooring Products

In addition to roofing lines, Bird & Son’s produced flooring products containing asbestos. These materials were installed in residential and commercial settings and are relevant to renovation and demolition workers who encounter deteriorating or intact flooring in older structures. Disturbing asbestos-containing flooring — through sanding, scraping, cutting, or breaking — releases respirable asbestos fibers.

Occupational Exposure

The workers most likely to have sustained significant asbestos exposure from Bird & Son’s products fall into several overlapping occupational categories.

Roofers and roofing mechanics represent the primary exposure group. These workers installed, repaired, and removed Bird asbestos shingles and felt products across decades of residential and commercial construction. Cutting shingles to fit roof dimensions, tearing off old asbestos roofing during re-roofing projects, and working in close proximity to others performing these tasks all created conditions for sustained fiber inhalation. Tear-off work — removing existing asbestos shingles from older homes — is recognized as generating particularly elevated fiber concentrations.

Construction laborers and helpers who worked alongside roofing crews, loaded and unloaded roofing materials, and cleaned up jobsite debris also faced repeated incidental exposures. Sweeping dried asbestos roofing debris or handling cut shingle fragments without respiratory protection was common practice on mid-twentieth-century jobsites.

Building renovation and demolition workers encountered Bird & Son’s products in the context of remodeling older structures. Homes built or re-roofed from the 1920s through the 1970s may still have Bird asbestos shingles or underlayment in place. Workers who disturb these materials today, and those who worked on older structures during the 1970s, 1980s, and beyond, may have experienced significant exposure. Under current AHERA and OSHA regulatory frameworks, asbestos-containing roofing materials in structures undergoing renovation or demolition require identification, proper handling procedures, and appropriate worker protection measures.

Sheet metal workers and carpenters who worked in proximity to roofing operations — flashing installation, dormer framing, chimney work — also appear in the exposure history associated with Bird & Son’s products.

Asbestos-related diseases, including mesothelioma, asbestosis, and lung cancer, have latency periods that can extend twenty to fifty years from the time of initial exposure. Workers who handled Bird & Son’s asbestos roofing products in the 1950s, 1960s, or 1970s may be receiving diagnoses of asbestos-related illness today.

Bird & Son’s Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection in connection with the volume of asbestos personal injury claims brought against the company arising from its decades of asbestos-containing product manufacturing. As part of the bankruptcy resolution process, the Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust was created to provide compensation to individuals with documented asbestos-related injuries caused by exposure to Bird & Son’s products.

The Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust is an active trust fund. Eligible claimants — or their surviving family members in cases where the exposed worker has died — may submit claims directly to the trust without initiating civil litigation.

Who May Be Eligible to File

To file a claim with the Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust, a claimant generally must demonstrate:

  • A qualifying asbestos-related disease diagnosis, which may include mesothelioma, lung cancer with asbestos exposure evidence, asbestosis, or other asbestos-related conditions recognized by the trust’s claim criteria
  • Documented exposure to Bird & Son’s asbestos-containing products at one or more worksites, established through work history records, co-worker testimony, union records, or other supporting documentation
  • A causal connection between the diagnosed condition and asbestos exposure, typically established through medical records and physician documentation

Surviving family members filing on behalf of a deceased worker should gather employment records, Social Security work history, union membership documentation, and any available medical records related to the worker’s asbestos-related diagnosis.

How the Claims Process Works

Asbestos trust fund claims are submitted according to established trust distribution procedures (TDPs), which define the documentation requirements, disease categories, and payment levels for each claim type. Claimants may qualify for expedited review — typically available for severe diagnoses such as mesothelioma — or standard review processes. An attorney experienced in asbestos trust fund claims can help evaluate which disease category applies, compile required documentation, and submit claims to the trust on a claimant’s behalf. Attorneys handling these cases typically work on a contingency fee basis.

Summary

Bird & Son’s Inc. manufactured asbestos-containing roofing shingles, roofing felt, Flexiglas asphalt roofing products, and flooring materials from the 1920s through 1978. These products were widely distributed and installed on American jobsites, with roofers, construction laborers, and renovation workers facing the greatest occupational exposure. The company filed for bankruptcy to address asbestos liabilities, and the Bird & Son’s Asbestos Settlement Trust is currently accepting claims from eligible individuals diagnosed with asbestos-related diseases linked to exposure to Bird & Son’s products. Workers or family members who believe they may be eligible should consult with an attorney experienced in asbestos trust fund claims to evaluate their documentation and begin the filing process.