Exhibit 99

         Walter Industries Announces Secondary Offering of Common Stock

 Company Agrees to Purchase Approximately 2 Million Shares Directly from KKR

    TAMPA, Fla., Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Walter Industries, Inc.
(NYSE: WLT) announced today that certain affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
& Co. ("KKR") priced a public offering of 8 million shares of the Company's
common stock. Morgan Stanley is the sole book-running manager for the
offering.
    Walter Industries also announced today that concurrent with the public
offering, the Company has agreed to purchase approximately 2 million shares
directly from KKR in a private transaction for an aggregate purchase price of
approximately $32.3 million.  The Company expects to use cash on hand to fund
the purchase.
    After the transaction, KKR will not own any shares of the Company's
outstanding common stock.
    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these
securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be
unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of
any such state. The common stock offering may be made only by means of a
prospectus and related prospectus supplement, copies of which may be obtained
by contacting Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, 1585 Broadway, New York, New
York 10036, Attention: Prospectus Department.

    Walter Industries, Inc. is a diversified company with annual revenues of
$1.3 billion.  The Company is a leader in affordable homebuilding, related
financing, and water transmission products, and is a significant producer of
high-quality coal for worldwide markets. Based in Tampa, Florida, the Company
employs approximately 5,200 people.  For more information about Walter
Industries, please call Joe Troy, Senior Vice President-Financial Services at
(813) 871-4404.

    Safe Harbor Statement
    Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this
release are forward-looking and made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause
the Company's actual results in future periods to differ materially from
forecasted results. Those risks include, among others, changes in customers'
demand for the Company's products, changes in raw material and equipment costs
and availability, geologic conditions and changes in extraction costs and
pricing in the Company's mining operations, changes in customer orders,
pricing actions by the Company's competitors, the collection of approximately
$16 million of receivables associated with working capital adjustments arising
from the sales of subsidiaries in 2003, potential changes in the mortgage-
backed capital market, and general changes in economic conditions. Risks
associated with forward-looking statements are more fully described in the
Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company
assumes no duty to update its outlook statements as of any future date.

    (Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020429/FLM010LOGO-c )

SOURCE  Walter Industries, Inc.
    -0-                             10/29/2004
    /CONTACT:  Joe Troy, Senior Vice President-Financial Services, Walter
Industries, Inc., +1-813-871-4404/
    /Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020429/FLM010LOGO-c
              AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org
              PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com /
    /Web site:  http://www.walterind.com /
    (WLT)

CO:  Walter Industries, Inc.; Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.; Morgan Stanley
ST:  Florida
IN:  CST OIL FIN
SU:  FNC