Kentile Floor Company – Second Ave. & Ninth Street, Brooklyn

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1. Industrial Brooklyn - Views of the Gowanus Crossings & Kentile Neon from Home Depot Parking Lot - Gowanus Creek « Fading Ad Blog by Frank H. Jump says:

   February 3, 2008 at 2:01 am

   […] Other Kentile shots […]

2. katie lyle says:

   April 18, 2008 at 12:09 am

   I put in a Kentile floor in 1986. I’d like to know how to continue to make it shiny. Katie Letcher Lyle

3. fadingad says:

   April 18, 2008 at 1:59 am

   Are you sure you aren’t really Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman? I read your question with Louise Lasser’s voice. 🙂 But seriously, my husband says that Johnson’s Wax makes an excellent floor product. Mop and Glo also works. Please tell Heather to finish her Orange Crush.

4. hank rich says:

   February 18, 2009 at 4:19 am

   I worked at the Kentile plant by the Gowanis Cannal in 1952, 53 and 54 as a piping/mechanical draftsman developing piping systems for manufacturing floor tile . Moved to Colorado in 55, but miss the smell of the old canal and the likes of Ramundo, Awan, Lupo, Jerry Johnson and the sound of the machinery stamping out the tiles, mostly asphalt, but we were working on cork tile at t he time. Good days, but, sadly, gone forever.

5. DJ says:

   July 5, 2009 at 4:10 pm

   Katie Lyle – Your floor is almost 25 years old! The way to make it shiny is to put in a new one!! You got your money’s worth out of it a few times over!

6. DJ says:

   July 5, 2009 at 6:34 pm

   Katie Lyle – And DON’T remove that old Kentile floor or do anything else until you read this:
   http://www.buzzle.com/articles/asbestos-floor-tiles.html

   1. fadingad says:

      July 6, 2009 at 3:10 am

      Thank you DJ for that helpful and informative safety tip!

7. John says:

   October 1, 2009 at 1:43 pm

   Is Kentile flooring still in business and if so where and what is the phone number??

   Thanks

8. DJ says:

   October 1, 2009 at 9:32 pm

   John..No, they’re long gone. Not sure, but I think they were HQed in Chicago at the end. The last address I have for them is 4532 South Kolin Avenue, Chicago 60632. I don’t know where the bankruptcy proceedings took place, but Kentile was completely gone by the end of 1994.

   The following is from http://www.asbestos.com/companies/kentile-floors.php :

   Founded by Arthur Kennedy in Brooklyn, NY in 1898, Kentile Floors was a popular manufacturer of floor tiles. The company’s plant, easily recognizable by the large purple neon sign that towered over its Brooklyn plant, claimed to be the home of “America’s largest manufacturer of super-resilient floor tile.”

   Known for the bold patterns it produced on its vinyl tiles, Kentile and its floors became a hit nationwide. The company’s “Crystalite Vinyl” tiles were especially popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
   Kentile Floors and Asbestos

   Unfortunately, Kentile Floors often contained asbestos that could harm the homeowner and anyone else who came in contact with the vinyl tiles. Such a toxic material was used in floor and ceiling tiles because it contributed to both durability fire-resistance. Vinyl-asbestos floor tiles may have contained as much as 25 percent asbestos, making them extremely toxic.

   When intact, the tiles Kentile made were generally not hazardous. However, if they were cut to fit a certain application or damaged during installation or removal, they could easily emit dangerous asbestos fibers. If these fibers were inhaled, several different forms of asbestos-related disease could develop, including lung cancer, asbestosis and mesothelioma.

   By 1992, Kentile Floors was facing tens of thousands of asbestos-related lawsuits. Later that year, the company filed bankruptcy. As with most companies that declare bankruptcy, the owners of Kentile hoped to reorganize and save the company, but attempts to do so failed. The company was also unable to organize a trust fund to compensate those who had filed asbestos claims. Kentile Floors closed permanently a few years later.

9. debbie says:

   November 22, 2009 at 12:46 am

   Could someone be affected by asbestos even if he was a forman? My dad worked there a long time ago and retired from there. I just read the website and was just wondering if he could had been affected by it. My dad has been gone now since 88, but I am just curious. I never knew about it. thanks

10. DJ says:

    November 22, 2009 at 2:29 am

    Debbie – That’s an interesting question. I lost one of my best friends who happened to also be my boss about 2 years ago to mesothelioma. He had never actually worked out on the jobsites with asbestos-containing products, but had worked in and around the floor-covering industry all his life. I’m certainly no doctor, and not an expert in this subject, but during his illness (and after losing my own Dad to lung cancer in ’97—(Dad was really high risk…an installer of these floor tiles and asbestos ceiling tiles, a smoker, and a fireman) I’ve picked up some knowledge about it.

    It’s my understanding that the asbestos dust was the problem. It wasn’t the tiles themselves…the problem is if you scrape them off the floor…breaking, abrading, chipping, shoveling, sweeping them. And there was also asbestos in some of the black adhesives. All of that activity would release and stir up the asbestos dust. Doing it once might not be a problem, but over a career…big big problem. My friend Ted worked in all aspects of the business except manufacture, including acoustic ceiling tiles back in the 50s & 60s…also containing huge amounts of asbestos.

    I would certainly think that your Dad, working in the factory where the asbestos was actually used in manufacture, could have been affected. Remember, factories often are, and certainly were, dirty dusty places, and regulations regarding safety–breathing masks, proper clothing, goggles etc–were inadequate and/or non-existent. OSHA wasn’t even created until 1971.

    Mesothelioma and asbestosis were often just called lung cancer up until relatively recently. And one other thing I learned…The combination of smoking and asbestos exposure greatly increases the risk of lung cancer.

11. fadingad says:

    November 22, 2009 at 4:23 am

    Wow. Thank you for responding from such an informed position DJonesy. I was hoping someone would, rather than me Google and post links as a response to the query. All the best, Frank

12. DJ says:

    November 22, 2009 at 1:17 pm

    I know we’re a little off-topic from the purpose of your blog, but it seems like important information. I love this site and I appreciate your allowing the conversation to evolve. Much more info on these illnesses is coming online all the time.

    It’s also a reminder that “the good ol’ days” weren’t always as good as we think we remember, especially in the work place.

    Thanks again for all the effort you put into this incredible website.

13. Jonathan Hernandez says:

    December 11, 2009 at 9:35 pm

    thanks for being such a valuable resource