Pinex fiberboard insulating sheathing identification guide.

In this article series we provide fiberboard product names and we describe the components, properties, and applications of various fiberboard, hardboard, and insulating board or sound deadening board products. We also answer questions such as do Pinex fiberboard and insulating board products contain asbestos? Pinex fiberboard water resistance, and Pinex fiberboard recycling.

Guide to Identify Pinex Fiberboard & Insulating Sheathing Board & Plasterboard Products in New Zealand

Pinex fiberboard panels and others in the fiberboard family can trace their origin in the U.S. to Azel Storrs Lyman's 1858 patent for separating the fiber of wood and for the manufacture of paper and other purposes. (Jester 2014).

In the history of development of a broad range of Pinex type fiberboard products was W.E. Hale's patent for wallboard that described using fiberboard in construction (Hale 1870) and Cobb's patent for using a soft board made of straw in place of wood lath as a plaster base (Cobb 1871).

Pinex Fiberboard - Insulating Board "Softboard"

Image: This advertisement for PINEX BOARD appeared in the Gisborne Herald on November 2, 1943.

Pinex is a specific brand of soft wood-fibre based insulating board that, in New Zealand, is often used as a generic name" for low-density softboard or fibreboard.

Pinex and equivalents were widely used as an insulating sheathing in New Zealand between 1941 and 1960, and appears also as finished ceilings, sometimes coated with plaster or covered by wallpaper or occasionally painted.

Pinex was produced in New Zealand beginning in 1941 by New Zealand Forest Products Ltd. - Foreign Commerce Weekly 1942

A similar product, Adamo, was produced in Australia and imported into New Zealand in the 1920's and 1930s - before Pinex board was produced in New Zealand.

Pinex was claimed to be stronger than Adamo. (The Timber Frame: Building Boards - 2013)

According to some sources there was also a Pinex hardboard product. (NZFPL 1960)

Some similar products and names are given below.

See details at PINEX CEILING TILES from which we excerpt below:

Pinex was made from wood chips and cardboard. We are unsure of the precise composition of Pinex, but Chiladaki et als. describe the material:

Low-density fibreboard is used widely as insulating board and is commonly referred-to (in New Zealand) by its trade name Pinex. Over time some changes have occurred in the manufacture of the board, but generally it is the same. . ... [chipped or flaked] wood (Pinus radiata) ... further reduced to wood fibre with the aid of steam ... Starch adhesive as well as different additives are added before the board forming operation, depending on the final product. ...

Nowadays 96% of the final product is wood fibre, 2% starch that binds the fibres, 1% wax for moisture resistance. Alum is sometimes added. ... back in the 1940s the wood used would have been solely pine, and most likely no chemicals would have been used, but maize starch [corn starch]. - Chiliadaki 2006.

Don't be misled by the plethora of other users of the popular name "Pinex". That term is even applied to plastic laminate flooring (Shree Vinayak Plywoods and laminates in Bomikhal, Rasulgarth) and even to liquid cleaners and medicines.

Watch out: however as we cite below, some low density asbestos-containing fibreboard products were used in Australia and probably New Zealand.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Above: this is LDF or LDB - Low Density Asbestos FIbre Board - excerpted from Safe Work Australia (2005) - this is NOT Pinex.

• Australia Safework, GUIDE to IDENTIFYING AND HANDLING LOW DENSITY ASBESTOS FIBRE BOARD (LDB) [PDF] (2005) Safe Work Australia, Website: www.swa.gov.au Email: info@swa.gov.au Tel: 1300 551 832 retrieved 2020/01/05 original source: https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/system/files/documents/1702/guide-identifying-handling-low-density-asbestos-fibre-board.pdf
• Chiliadaki, Argyro, and André Page. A NEW ZEALAND COMMUNIST PARTY MURAL: POSTER PAINTS ON LARGE FORMAT FIBREBOARD [PDF] In Restauro: Forum für Restauratoren, Konservatoren und Denkmalpfleger, vol. 112, no. 3, pp. 191-197. 2006.
  
  Thanks to website PDFCandy for assisting us in converting image files to the PDF provided above. https://pdfcandy.com/result/31302511d82d.html
  
  Special thanks to Dusseldorf art conservator Ulrik Runeberg, Conservator, Dipl. Rest./M.A., for bringing that article on Pinex and the New Zealand Mural restoration to our attention. cf:Runeberg, Ulrik, STAINING AND MICROBIOLOGICAL INFESTATION OF ACRYLIC PAINTINGS ON HARDBOARD [PDF] (2008),Conservator (Dipl. Rest./M.A.),
  
  Restaurierungszentrum der Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf, Germany, Email: Rune-Ulrik@gmx.de Previously Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico, San Juan Presented, April 2007 conference in Richmond Virginia, sponsored by the AIC (American Institute for Conservation),
  
  this paper discusses the staining and microbial infestation of acrylic paintings on hardboard. - private correspondence, ER <->DF 2020/01/05 - 2006/09/12.
  
  (Also see PAINT FALURE, DIAGNOSIS, CURE, PREVENTION)
• "Paper and Related Products", Foreign Commerce Weekly, January 24, 1942, p. 30 Excerpting:
  
  New Zealand - Forest Products, Ltd., Auckland, placed its "Pinex" insulating wallboard on the market a few months ago. It is made from ground pine pulp and produced in sheets of various sizes for economical cutting. The mill is located at Penrose, about 7 miles from Auckland.
  
  Capacity of this mill is reportedly sufficient to supply the entire demand for insulating wallboard in New Zealand. A
  
  considerable volume of orders has been received from distributors in the Dominion, and several oversea concerns have made inquiries regarding this new product. The company is investigating sales possibilities in a number of foreign markets.
  
  The chairman of the board of directors of the New Zealand Forest Products, Ltd. said that machinery has been ordered to increase the capacity of the present insulating-board mill at Penrose by 50 percent.
  
  He further stated that, as the bulk of it had arrived, there would be no delay in meeting the demand for this product. The insulating board mill is in steady production, and "Pinex" board is being shipped all over New Zealand.
  
  It is reported that New Zealand Forest Products, Ltd., controls 175,000 acres of trees but can use only 300 acres according to present plans.
  
  In the past, the demand for insulating board in New Zealand was supplied by Swedish and Canadian producers.
• ForestOne™ SOFTBOARD, a multi-purpose low density fibre board, [to me this looks like mineral fibre - ed.] 13mm, painted or unpainted, retrieved 2020/01/05 original source: https://www.forest1.com/info/softboard/ - contact: Australia & New Zealand Head Office 112 Salmon Street Port Melbourne VIC 3207 Ph: (03) 9647 9911 Email: vic@forest1.com
• "How to repair Pinex softboard ceilings" New Zealand Renovate Magazine, Issue 33 p. 44 retrieved 2020/01/05 original source: https://www.refreshrenovations.co.nz/advice/how-to-repair-pines-softboard-ceilings/
• The Timber Frame: BUILDING BOARDS [PDF] (2013) retrieved 2020/01/05 original source: https://www.mileslewis.net/australian-building/pdf/05-timber-frame/5.11%20bldg%20boards.pdf
• New Zealand Forest Products Ltd :Pinex wallboards; handyman booklet. New Zealand Forest Products Ltd. retrieved 2020/01/05 original source: https://natlib.govt.nz/records/32199637
  Excerpt:
  
  Brochure contains the following pamphlets:
  
  Pamphlet 1A. Pinex hardboard. How to make the old bathtub into a modern streamlined bath
  
  Pamphlet 2A. How to construct a simple wall cabinet
  
  Pamphlet 3A. How to convert a basement into an extra room
  
  Pamphlet 4A. How to construct flush cupboard doors
  
  Pamphlet 5A. How to make a bathroom cabinet
  
  Pamphlet 6. How to construct combination buffet and room divider |
  
  Pamphlet 7. Pinex hardboard. Built-in seats and dining table
  
  Pamphlet 8A. How to construct wardrobe and cupboard doors from 1/4 inch Pinex hardboard
  
  Pamphlet 9. Pinex hardboard. How to streamline the kitchen, bathroom and laundry with Pinex "Decor" Board
  
  Pamphlet 10. Pinex hardboard. How to build combination bunks and wardrobe
  
  Pamphlet 11. Pinex hardboard. How to make two "take-apart" utility tables using 1/4 inch hardboard
  
  Pamphlet 12. How to build a sink unit
  
  Pamphlet 13A. Pinex chalkboard. How to make a child's scribble table using Pinex Chalkboard
  
  Pamphlet 14. How to make a garage in tempered hardboard
  
  Pamphlet 15. Pinex Tempered Hardboard. How to make a children's palyhouse or toolshed using Pinex tempered hardboard
  
  Pamphlet 16. How to renovate an old room with Pinex panels
  
  Pamphlet 17A. Pinex hammerglaze; how to line a shower recess and make a bath and basin surround with Pinex Hammer-glaze Board
  
  Pamphlet 18A. Pinex hardboard. How to make rocking toys
  
  Pamphlet 19A. Pinex wallboard. How to make a beverage cabinet
  
  Pamphlet 20. Pinex insulating board. How to line a basement
  
  Pamphlet 21B. How to make a corner plant box with Pinex leatherboard and Pinex pine
  
  Pamphlet 22. Pinex insulating board. Settling out for Pinex insulating board walls
  
  Pamphlet no 23. How to make a play-pen using Pinex hardbaord and Pinex pine
  
  Pamphlet no 24. How to build your own beach cottage.
  
  Pamphlet no. 25. The Pinex TV trolley Quantity: 1 album(s) Album(s).
• More on the composition of a similar product, hardboard, is
  
  at HARDBOARD MASONITE™ & OTHER BRANDS
  

...

Continue reading at Xspan class="LI_Spaced"> UNIDENTIFIED FIBERBOARD PRODUCTS or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

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