Why Builders Behind This High-Rise Chose Hideaway Expansions

Let's face it: expansion joints are usually a pain in the neck for commercial builders (and many residential ones, too). If they’re not installed every 30 feet or so within a wall partition, cracking will occur. There’s no way around this important code requirement, but you may as well make the process as painless as possible for your installers — and save on labor costs — by choosing easier-to-use, more flexible expansion beads made from vinyl materials.

Trim-Tex offers a few varieties of these crucial drywall accessories, including a standard 093V Expansion bead and its fire rated version. But there’s another option that’s a favorite among builders who don’t want their expansion joints to attract much attention: Hideaway Expansion. We recently visited an impressive new building — the tallest residential high-rise in Milwaukee — whose builders chose this understated bead for all their control/expansion joints. Read on to find out why!

The Problem: ‘Cracks coming all over the place’

“Every 30 feet on walls, you need expansion joint, because buildings move and adjust and flex,” says Mitch Groenke, taper foreman for Common Links, the contractor behind the interiors of the Milwaukee tower. “This keeps the drywall in, and it gives it a place to flex instead of having cracks coming all over the place.”

Each unit of this high-rise — 322 total, plus retail and restaurant spaces — is open-concept in design; with wide, open wall spaces, the average unit would require at least two of these expansion joints. Hallways and common areas, too, would require them, especially on the ceilings. So, with this many expansion joints located all over their building, the project's architects wanted to keep them as subtle as possible — a perfect fit for the subtle Hideaway Expansion bead.