How Fast Are Fast Cap Beads? We Put Them to the Test!

The selling point of a Fast Cap bead is simple — for areas like entryways or closet openings, rather than needing to finish up to eight total corner beads and the surface of the drywall itself, you can just install a couple of these extra-wide vinyl solutions and call it a day. But how much faster are Fast Cap beads, really? To find out, we headed to the Trim-Tex lab to test them head-to-head against the traditional way of finishing these details, with multiple corner beads.

Watch the video below for a side-by-side comparison on the same interior opening, first using multiple corner beads and then using Fast Caps to knock out the whole process in one step per side.

Test 1: Multiple corner bead method

To start off this test, we installed vinyl corner bead on each corner of each side of the drywall opening, so eight corner beads total. For these corners, we selected the 3/16” Small Bullnose beads to give our drywall detail an eye-catching look — the one thing a more streamlined solution like Fast Cap can’t do.

Our eight corner beads were cut to length and then installed using 847 Spray Adhesive and half-inch staples, applied every six to eight inches along the mud legs. Then we applied two coats of mud, both on the outer edges of the bead and spanning the surface of the drywall within the opening (which, as you’ll see below, we do not have to do with Fast Caps).

Not including the sanding process, working as fast as possible, finishing this small drywall opening took us 26 minutes and 40 seconds.

Test 2: Fast Cap method

For openings like these, Fast Caps are much simpler to install. Fast Caps cover the entire width of the opening, so rather than eight corner beads, you’ll just need one Fast Cap per side (so, in our case, four) — and no need to finish the surface of the drywall itself, or wait for all that mud to dry in between mud coats.

After cutting and dry fitting each bead, we installed our Fast Caps first by applying high-quality adhesive caulk (not construction/stud adhesive) to the back of each bead, using a level to square them as they were installed. Then we stapled our mud legs into place. For a perfectly smooth finish, we went the extra mile and applied a bead of caulk to the inside corners of the opening, and mesh tape to our seams and the outside corners of the Fast Caps’ mud legs. Using our joint knife, we went ahead and mudded the legs of the bead twice, but with Fast Caps, the interior surface of the drywall was already good to go and paint-ready.

With Fast Caps, not counting sanding, this small opening took us 18 minutes and 28 seconds to finish; that’s a 31.5% decrease from the old way of doing things. Factor in how much less time we spent waiting for the increased amounts of mud to dry in the multiple corner bead method — and then multiply this time difference for multiple, larger openings like full-sized entryways and closets — and the amount of time (and material!) you’re saving with Fast Caps is immense.

Trim-Tex’s Fast Cap is just one of the many solutions we’ve created to help drywallers of all skill levels attain a high-quality finish in less time with fewer headaches. See everything we’ve got to offer by requesting a free Trim-Tex catalog — just hit the button below to get started!

How Fast Are Fast Cap Beads? We Put Them to the Test!

Test 1: Multiple corner bead method

Test 2: Fast Cap method

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