(NOTE: Images used in this article were taken in January, 2020, before our Customer Service team began working remotely.)
Have you ever ordered a Trim-Tex product? Chances are, you’ve spoken with one of Trim-Tex’s friendly Customer Service representatives. Have you ever had a question about when your shipment will arrive, or had an issue in transit? You’ve probably
gone through Trim-Tex Customer Service. Have you ever gotten some adhesive spray in your eye and picked up the phone for help in a sweaty, blind panic? Maybe not, but yeah, our experts in Customer Service have dealt with that, too.
The folks in our Customer Service department have truly seen it all, and if you were to stop by their wing of the Trim-Tex HQ, you would hear some wild stories. Yet the team still answers the phones with smiles on their faces, and are always quick with a joke. To help lighten their loads a little, we’re taking a crack at answering 10 of the most commonly asked questions they receive day in and day out — and, next time, maybe call a doctor about that glue in your eyes.
How fast can Customer Service get my order to me?
From the people in Customer Service to those manufacturing our vinyl drywall corner beads in our plant, Trim-Tex prides itself on speedy service. If you place your order with your dealer, and they are able to get your order in before 2 p.m. CST, it’s almost always going out the door the same day. From there, however, expedited services are available upon request and quoted on a per-order basis.
Can I buy just one piece?
We only sell full boxes of our products to our dealers — but we have trusted dealers across the world, who may sell you corner beads by the piece. Here is a handy way to find a dealer in your area.
Can your product be used alongside metal corner beads?
Of course! Metal “Shiny 90” corner beads are used all over the place, and contractors will frequently use them in more basic spots, and some of our vinyl products for more specialized cases — for instance, in a high-moisture area like around a shower to prevent rust or mold. We would only humbly submit that our vinyl drywall corner beads have proven themselves more dynamic, more resistant to damage and easier to repair than metal corner bead (and often cheaper, too, when you factor in the time and material you’ll save installing them). But that’s another story for another time!
Which is stronger: Mud Set Beads or regular “glue-and-staple” beads?
Get us started talking about the endless benefits of the Standard Corner Beads we’ve made our name on, and we’ll never shut up. But if the question is purely on the back of which of our products create a stronger bond with the drywall? It’s simple: The patented Mud Lock Technology built into our Mud Set Beads grips the mud stronger than anything else out there.
What is the Smoke Rating for your products?
To put it simply, all our corner beads are top of their class for preventing the spread of smoke and flame. To put it in more complicated legalese (deep inhale), rigid PVC products made by Trim-Tex meet ASTM specifications D3678-97, D1784-03, C1047-99 and achieve a Class A rating for flame spread and smoke developed when tested under ASTM E84-10. For premium firestopping capabilities, check out our latest products, the first-ever family of fire rated drywall accessories, including Fire Bead, Fire Gasket and Fire Rated 093V Expansion Joint. Speaking of which…
Is your 093V PVC free?
Short answer: no. Longer answer: well, definitely no.
What’s the best way to finish around windows and doors?
There are a ton of ways to do this, depending on your style. The most common 
method is our own Tear Away Beads, which are manufactured with a strip to make application easy for when the drywall butts up against doors, windows or other substrates, which you can simply tear off after mudding for a clean, flush finish. Check out this short video to learn more.
You can get fancier with your doors and windows, too, with some of our other beads, like the Chamfer Kerfed bead or a Shadow Bead.
What is Buttboard and what does it do?
Trim-Tex’s Buttboard Drywall Backer pulls back the edges of the cut end of the drywall, simulating factory tapered edges for perfectly flat drywall finishes. Besides making your project look great, using Buttboard means using less joint compound to finish your project, saving you both time and money. This quick video can explain more!
I have an idea for a great product — can I talk to your production team?
We have incredible minds here at Trim-Tex who are constantly at work thinking of products people will love, and we like to welcome new ideas. Contractors are the ones actually out there using our products, so it makes sense for them to be the ones to generate some fresh takes for our industry! For boring legal reasons, though, you should only contact our Customer Service folks if you’ve already got a patent on the concept.
And finally…
What do I do if I get 847 Spray Adhesive in my eye?
This information is printed on the back of each can of Trim-Tex’s 847 Spray Adhesive, used to install our vinyl drywall corner beads — but if you already sprayed it in your eye, well, maybe that won’t do you much good. Rinse your eyes out for several minutes, remove your contact lenses if you’ve got them and then keep on rinsing. If it continues to be painful, we’ll refer you to what we said at the beginning of this article: call a doctor, not our very nice Customer Service people!
Have a question we didn't answer? Learn how you can contact our awesome support team here!