Drywall 101: The Importance of a Tear Away Strip
Drywall finishing is messy work. You show me someone who leaves a jobsite after a full day of mudding with a clean shirt, hands and shoes, and we’ll show you an elephant who can play the violin — it just doesn’t happen. A lot of the time, that daily mess can mean more than making your washing machine work overtime. Especially
where the drywall meets with other surfaces, like windows and doors, being less precise with your work can wind up costing you a ton of time and money.
That’s where a drywall corner bead tear away strip comes in handy: to both guide your taping knife and to act as a built-in barrier between the mud and other substrates, getting the job done faster while providing a clean finish.
“It keeps everything straight and precise,” said Jason Hoff, a contractor with Interior Specialties in Indianapolis, IN. “It keeps the mud off the other surface you don’t want mud getting on. It’s an easy clean, it speeds up the process of finishing, and that’s where you make your money — the quicker you get it done, the more money you make.”
A corner bead with a tear away strip is going to be your go-to when your drywall butts up against another layering detail. Mud the bead as you would any other, then just pull on that strip in one, fluid motion, and you will leave behind a gorgeously flush look.
Plus, beyond saving contractors time and money, there’s another big appeal to a tear away strip — it’s just so dang satisfying to peel off. Check out this video from another finisher, Danny Moody, who calls that feeling “like bubble wrap, but better!”
Now, of course, Trim-Tex didn’t invent the idea of a little tab on a piece of material that comes off with a pulling motion. But we did perfect it for the drywalling industry with our patented family of Tear Away Bead. We’re not just tooting our own horn here — if you want to use a tear away strip, many in the industry will tell you there’s no better product than Trim-Tex’s Tear Away Bead. Says Jason from Interior Specialties:
“When our contractors pick some products up at hardware stores, where it may not be a Trim-Tex product, you can tell there’s a big difference, because the other stuff is — it’s real brittle. It’ll break and crack, and Trim-Tex always tears away pretty clean. Trim-Tex is professional-grade. For what we use out here, it just makes our jobs that much easier. And if it’s easier, we can get the job done quicker, and we can go on to the next one.”
Tear Away Bead isn’t just a single, one-size-fits-all solution, either. There’s a kind of bead for just about every kind of job, from finishing around showers and other oversized gaps to finishing around archways. There’s Super Seal Tear Away to produce a tight seal and replace caulk. There’s your basic Tear Away L Bead and a Flat Tear Away for when there’s no room for a return leg. Check out the entire family of Tear Away Beads here.
Tear Away Bead is perfect for those looking to pull off a great-looking job more quickly and easily, as well as for those looking to become masters of their craft. And that’s Trim-Tex products in a nutshell.
“We used to always use just the basic, metal corner bead, but times have changed,” says Jason. “If you don’t change, you’re just going to be sitting there in the mud — no pun intended.”
To get started using Tear Away for yourself, use the tool below to find your trusted local Trim-Tex dealer.
Trim-Tex beads are flying off the shelves at a dealer near you. Snag a box or a truckload of your favorite corner profiles today.