History in every can

By Emma Peterson.

From being named for pharaohs to waterproofing the iconic Lincoln Tunnel, learn about KARNAK’s 92 years serving the waterproofing industry.

In a new CoatingsCast® episode, Megan Ellsworth sat down with Chris Huttig to talk about KARNAK’s 92 years in the industry. KARNAK’s story begins in 1933 with a young waterproofing contractor by the name of Martin Jelin. Chris shared, “Martin was a waterproofing contractor and one of his company's jobs was waterproofing the Lincoln Tunnel going to New York in the thirties.”   

However, the project didn’t kick off perfectly as Martin had supply issues and was facing late penalties on the job. So, he did the only thing he could and borrowed money. Chris explained, “He couldn't get the product fast enough, so he looked into the company that made it. They were a fledgling company that wasn’t doing well. So, Martin borrowed money and bought the company.”

That product he had been looking for was called KARNAK, which Martin decided to use as the new company name because of the meaning behind it. Chris explained, “It speaks to temple of KARNAK over in Luxor, Egypt. The pyramids in the temple were built thousands and thousands of years ago, surviving the elements, floods and more. They are also thought to be the first recorded use of bitumen for dam proofing. They think the pharaohs used it as a ceiling between stones to protect against the flooding from the Nile River.” While it hasn’t been thousands of years yet, KARNAK’s products have been living up to their namesake with almost a century of proved quality, durability and performance.  

In the end, what started as an unfortunate situation, turned into a legacy. Today, KARNAK is still innovating and pushing forward as a family owned company. Martin’s daughter, Sarah Jelin, took over in 1995 and 2020 saw Jacob Jelin Schwarz, the third generation of the family, join the company. Now, in 2025, the KARNAK team is celebrating the re-launch of the iconic Karna-Seal 671.

Read the transcript, Listen to the episode or Watch the recording to learn more about KARNAK and the re-launch of Karna-Seal 671.