Fibreboard Corporation: Asbestos Products Reference

Company History

Fibreboard Corporation was a major American building materials manufacturer whose product lines spanned much of the twentieth century. Operating under several brand names — most notably Pabco and Prasco — Fibreboard produced a broad range of industrial insulation, roofing, flooring, and construction products that were sold to contractors, industrial facilities, and building trades throughout the United States from at least the 1920s through the early 1980s.

The company’s Pabco brand became particularly well established in the thermal insulation market, with product lines covering pipe covering, block insulation, and insulating cements used extensively in power generation, petrochemical refining, shipbuilding, and heavy manufacturing. The Prasco brand appeared on similar insulation products during an earlier period, roughly the 1920s through the 1950s. Fibreboard also manufactured roofing materials, floor coatings, and finishing compounds that reached residential and commercial construction markets across the country.

According to asbestos litigation records, Fibreboard’s products were present on a wide variety of American jobsites for decades, exposing generations of tradespeople — pipefitters, insulators, sheet metal workers, roofers, and general laborers — to airborne asbestos fibers. The company is reported to have ceased incorporating asbestos into its products in approximately the early 1980s, consistent with broader industry transitions following tightening federal regulation under the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Asbestos-Containing Products

Court filings document a substantial catalog of Fibreboard products alleged to have contained asbestos. These products are organized below by category.

Thermal Insulation — Pabco Brand

The Pabco insulation line represented Fibreboard’s most extensive and longest-running use of asbestos-containing materials. Plaintiffs alleged that the following products were manufactured with chrysotile and/or other forms of asbestos:

  • Pabco 85% Magnesia Pipe Covering (approximately 1920–1966): A pipe insulation product based on magnesium carbonate formulation, historically one of the most common high-temperature pipe insulations used in American industry. According to asbestos litigation records, asbestos fiber was incorporated as a reinforcing binder in this product throughout its production run.
  • Pabco 85% Magnesia Block Insulation (approximately 1920–1966): The block-form companion product to the pipe covering, used to insulate flat or irregularly shaped surfaces such as boiler casings and valve bodies.
  • Pabco 85% Magnesia Insulating Cement (approximately 1920–1966): A trowel-applied finishing cement used to coat, patch, and finish magnesia insulation systems. Court filings document this product as alleged to have contained asbestos throughout its production period.
  • Pabco Caltemp Pipe Covering (approximately 1950–1968): A successor thermal insulation product to the 85% Magnesia line, designed for similar high-temperature applications.
  • Pabco Caltemp Block Insulation (approximately 1950–1968): The block-form version of the Caltemp series.
  • Pabco Caltemp Insulating Cement (approximately 1950–1968): The trowel-applied finishing compound associated with the Caltemp insulation system.
  • Pabco Super Caltemp Pipe Covering (late 1960s–approximately 1971): An upgraded formulation in the Caltemp line, used in industrial piping systems.
  • Pabco Super Caltemp Block Insulation (1960s–1970s): Block insulation associated with the Super Caltemp product family.
  • Pabco Block Insulation (approximately 1952–1968): A general block insulation product sold under the core Pabco name.
  • Pabco Insulating Cement (approximately 1928–1966): One of Fibreboard’s longest-documented insulating cement products; plaintiffs alleged asbestos was used as a reinforcing component throughout production.
  • Pabco Pipe Covering (production dates not fully established): A pipe insulation product in the core Pabco line.

Thermal Insulation — Prasco Brand and Numbered Products

  • Prasco Pipe Covering (approximately 1928–1951): An earlier-generation pipe covering marketed under the Prasco trade name.
  • Prasco Insulating Cement (approximately 1941–1957): Trowel-applied cement associated with Prasco-brand insulation systems.
  • Prasco Block Insulation (approximately 1941–1957): Block insulation sold under the Prasco brand.
  • 127 Insulating Cement (approximately 1966–1971): A numerically designated insulating cement that, according to asbestos litigation records, plaintiffs alleged contained asbestos fiber.
  • FI Insulating Cement (approximately 1963–1966): A shorter-run insulating cement product also alleged in court filings to have contained asbestos.

Roofing Products

  • Asphalt-Saturated Felts / Roll Roofing (approximately 1920–1968): Fibreboard manufactured roofing felts saturated with asphalt that, according to asbestos litigation records, plaintiffs alleged incorporated asbestos fiber for reinforcement and fire resistance. These products were used extensively in both residential and commercial roofing applications.
  • Rolled Roofing: A related product category; specific production dates remain under investigation.
  • Roofing Felt: Underlayment felt products; specific production dates remain under investigation.

Floor and Finishing Products

  • Gripdeck Floor Coating (approximately 1942–1968): An industrial-grade floor coating product alleged in court filings to have contained asbestos. This product was used in marine, industrial, and commercial settings where slip resistance and durability were required.
  • Floor Tile: Fibreboard manufactured asbestos-containing floor tile; production dates remain under active investigation in litigation records.
  • Taping Compound: A drywall finishing compound alleged to have contained asbestos; specific production dates remain under investigation.

Occupational Exposure

According to asbestos litigation records, the range of Fibreboard products described above brought asbestos into contact with a broad cross-section of American workers over several decades.

Pipefitters, steamfitters, and insulation workers were among the most heavily exposed trades. The Pabco and Prasco insulation systems — pipe coverings, block insulation, and finishing cements — required cutting, shaping, sawing, and hand-mixing operations that plaintiffs alleged generated substantial quantities of respirable asbestos dust. Power plants, oil refineries, chemical plants, and paper mills were common worksites where these products were applied.

Shipyard workers encountered Fibreboard insulation products during the construction and repair of naval and commercial vessels, particularly during World War II and the postwar shipbuilding expansion. Court filings document claims arising from shipyard exposure to Pabco and Prasco products during this period.

Roofers and construction laborers were exposed through the application of Fibreboard’s asphalt-saturated felts, rolled roofing, and related products. Cutting and fitting felt products was alleged to release asbestos fibers into breathing zones.

Floor installers and finishing tradespeople were potentially exposed through Gripdeck floor coating application and through the mixing and sanding of taping compound, both of which plaintiffs alleged contained asbestos.

Bystander and secondary exposure is also documented in litigation records. Workers in adjacent trades — painters, carpenters, electricians — who worked near insulation application and removal operations alleged exposure to Fibreboard product dust without directly handling the materials. Family members of workers have also pursued claims based on take-home fiber exposure from contaminated work clothing.

Fibreboard Corporation falls under Tier 2 of asbestos litigation classification: the company has been extensively litigated in asbestos personal injury actions, but no active bankruptcy trust is currently established to receive and pay claims against Fibreboard specifically.

Fibreboard’s asbestos liability history is substantial. The company was among the defendants in large-scale asbestos litigation beginning in the 1970s and 1980s. According to asbestos litigation records, the volume of claims against Fibreboard grew significantly through these decades, driven in part by the breadth of its product catalog and the wide distribution of Pabco-brand insulation across American industry.

Fibreboard ultimately became part of a complex insurance coverage and settlement resolution process. Court filings from that era document extensive negotiations involving Fibreboard’s insurers and claimant groups. Those proceedings resulted in resolution structures that were, at the time, among the largest asbestos-related settlements in American litigation history — though the specific terms and structure of those resolutions are matters of public court record rather than active trust administration.

Individuals seeking compensation for Fibreboard-related asbestos exposure should be aware that:

  • No Fibreboard-specific Section 524(g) bankruptcy trust is currently listed among the active asbestos trusts administered under federal bankruptcy supervision.
  • Claims related to Fibreboard exposure may potentially be pursued through civil litigation against successor entities, insurers, or co-defendants in the asbestos product chain, depending on the facts of exposure and applicable law.
  • Because Fibreboard products were frequently used alongside products from other manufacturers — particularly in insulation systems and roofing assemblies — workers with documented Fibreboard exposure often have concurrent claims against other asbestos defendants whose trusts remain active.

If you or a family member worked with or around Fibreboard’s Pabco-brand insulation products, Prasco-brand insulation, Gripdeck floor coating, asphalt roofing felts, or related finishing products — particularly between the 1920s and early 1980s — there may be a documented basis for an asbestos-related claim.

Because Fibreboard does not have an active bankruptcy trust, legal options typically involve civil litigation or claims against co-defendants with active trust funds. Many workers exposed to Fibreboard products were simultaneously exposed to materials from other manufacturers — including those with funded trusts — which may provide additional avenues for compensation.

Consulting an attorney experienced in asbestos exposure claims is the recommended first step. Documentation of specific jobsites, job titles, and time periods of exposure is particularly important for Fibreboard-related claims, given the complexity of the legal landscape surrounding this company’s liability history.