Frequently asked questions

We have more than 2,000 trusted drywall supply dealer partners we work with to supply contractors with highest-quality drywall finishing solutions. Use our dealer search tool to find one near you!

Yes. Trim-Tex has dealer/distributor partners in 10 countries outside the U.S.: Australia, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Use our dealer search tool to find where to buy near you.

Yes! Contact Trim-Tex’s customer service team here, and they will redirect you to your regional sales rep who can guide you from there.

Request a copy of the latest Trim-Tex catalog — available in print, digital and Spanish-language editions — here.

Trim-Tex’s HQ is always in stock to ship to our drywall supply dealer partners, but your local dealer may not always be stock with the specific product you’re looking for. Check for dealers near you by using our online dealer search tool, and special order your solution if it’s not currently on their shelves. We will ship it to them that same day if the order is placed before 2 pm CT.

As a rule, we only ship to our dealer partners, who can help supply you from there. For residential addresses, we are able to ship boxes up to seven feet. Additional freight charges may apply. Reach out to your local distributor for pricing and freight costs.

If received before 2 p.m. CT, we ship all orders the same day they were placed. Transit times may vary from there; reach out to the dealer with whom you placed the order for an ETA.

Trim-Tex only ships entire boxes, but your local dealer may be able to sell in more limited quantities. Use our dealer search tool to find where to buy near you.

The sizing of corner beads and how many pieces are packaged in one box varies from product to product. This information is clearly listed on each product’s page on Trim-Tex.com (scroll down to “PRODUCT OPTIONS”) and within the Trim-Tex catalog for your reference.

Due to variations in pricing from dealer to dealer, we currently have no single set cost for any of our products. For pricing details on Trim-Tex products in your area, reach out to your local dealer — use our dealer search tool to find where to buy near you.

Contact our customer service team to begin the process of becoming one of Trim-Tex’s trusted dealer partners. You may reach out to them by calling 800-874-2333, or by contacting them online here.

Sure! Find out how to get in touch with our customer service team here.

The popularity of individual Trim-Tex drywall finishing accessories may change depending on the industry, current interior design trends or a variety of other factors (we publish a yearly list of the current most popular solutions — see the list for 2022 here) but here is a small collection of some of our most consistent best-sellers:

• ¾” Large Bullnose Corner Bead
• Trim-Tex Corner Bead & Archway
• 847 Spray Adhesive
• Tear Away L Bead
• 093V Expansion Bead and its fire rated counterpart
• Fast Edge® Paper
• Adjustable Inside Corner Bead
• Architectural Z Shadow Bead

Yes, our limited warranty can be found in the back of every edition of the Trim-Tex catalog and is available as a digital PDF here.

We’re sorry to hear that! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our customer service team to describe your problem, and if the product was defective as a result of its manufacturing, we will gladly replace it.

PVC is not generally considered an eco-friendly material, but Trim-Tex takes numerous major steps in our manufacturing process to offset any potential environmental harm and produce sustainable products. Each vinyl product is primarily made from recycled materials, which keeps 17-18 million pounds of PVC out of landfills every year. Learn more about Trim-Tex’s commitment to sustainability here.

Post-consumer recycled content comes the kind of plastics you would use in your daily life, like disposable water bottles and straws. Trim-Tex does not use this post-consumer waste. Instead, we use post-industrial waste, which comes from scrap left behind by other PVC manufacturers (particularly those in the packaging industry) that would otherwise wind up in a landfill.

You can use Trim-Tex’s extended responsibility program and recycled content statement to get LEEDv4 credit.

We currently only offer product samples on a case-by-case basis. However, in the near future, we will be expanding our offerings for sample requests — check back soon!

Yes, vinyl and metal corner beads can be used together, but with different visible edges between them, you might not be able to achieve a seamless finish. Therefore, we wouldn’t fully recommend mixing corner bead materials within the same room or architectural detail.

Trim-Tex offers four bullnose radii to suit any style. The smallest of these has a 3/16” radius, then you’ve got ⅜” Medium Bullnose, ¾” Large Bullnose, and then the largest radius, 1 ½” Jumbo Bullnose. Each of these is made from high-quality vinyl, is durable and easy to use.

Some Trim-Tex beads (Mud On Ceiling Bead, Architectural Reveal Bead, Z Shadow Bead and F Reveal Bead) are manufactured with UV-stabilized PVC that helps with UV rays. But even in these cases, they're still rated for indoor-use only.

Trim-Tex rigid PVC was tested under ASTM E84 and achieved a Class A rating for flame spread and smoke.

Both Mud Set Beads and standard vinyl beads have been rigorously tested for their durability, and both have performed very well in our impact and pull tests. In both tests, however, Mud Set Beads performed moderately better.

Trim-Tex products are for interior-use only. They do not contain enough UV stabilizer or other additives to make them suitable for exterior use.

This may differ from product to product, though the majority of Trim-Tex corner beads are installed by applying two coats of 847 Spray Adhesive (one to the bead and one to the drywall, or two coats to either), pressing the bead into place and applying half-inch staples every six to eight inches along the bead’s mud legs. If you do not use the recommended 847 Spray Adhesives, apply staples every two to three inches. Fast Edge® and Mud Set corner beads are installed using only joint compound, either by running the bead through a hopper or applying mud directly to the drywall.

For installation guidelines for individual products, you can find detailed instructions on each product’s page on Trim-Tex.com, or by searching for the product on our “Resources” page.

There are a multitude of reasons why your walls or ceilings may be experiencing cracking, from improper installation of drywall finishing accessories to the level of moisture in the air. Reach out to our customer service team here and we will help you find out what went wrong and how to solve it.

All of Trim-Tex’s drywall finishing accessories are 100% paintable.

You may use a standard miter saw or a pair of snips or to miter Trim-Tex corner beads. To help with the tricky work of mitering the rounded profiles of our Bullnose corner beads, we offer a handy miter marker for accurate measurements before cutting into them.

You have many options for finishing around windows and doors — browse the full Trim-Tex catalog for more information on all your choices — but here are a few of the most commonly used solutions:

• Every day, countless drywall finishers use our Tear Away L Bead where drywall butts up against other substrates, especially windows and doors. The bead’s mud leg is attached to the drywall, with its second flange slots into the gap between the two. (If that gap is too tight or is already filled with backing materials, choose Flat Tear Away L Bead.) The bead comes equipped with a tear-off strip that protects the window or door from mud spilling over onto it — simply rip it away when you’re done mudding and sanding.
• To save material and labor on larger surfaces of exposed drywall, like deep window returns, use an L bead with an extra-wide flange, like our Super and Giant L Beads.
• To give the drywall around a window or door a decorative edge, Trim-Tex offers kerfed versions of our ⅜” Medium Bullnose and ¾” Large Bullnose profiles. These are pre-cut to be inserted into the channels of many preformed door and window jambs to create attractive rounded encasements.

Fast Edge and Mud Set Beads do not require mechanical fasteners like staples to install them. All you need is drywall joint compound (though you may find additional tools like a hopper and roller can help you install these beads more quickly/easily). That’s because these styles of corner beads feature Mud Lock Technology that grips into mud for an unbeatable bond to the drywall. No staples, no glue — just mud and done.

Yes!

Yes, but it's not ideal. You would have to install Trim-Tex vinyl beads with 847 Spray Adhesive only or all-purpose compound. Regular staples will probably not go into either plywood or cement board.

847 Spray Adhesive is a high-tack, pressure-sensitive installation aid designed and tested by Trim-Tex engineers to be used with Trim-Tex vinyl beads. It’s a specially formulated web spray that creates a stronger bond than mist spray adhesives, designed specifically to bond rigid vinyl to drywall.

No, metal corner bead is typically nailed onto drywall. Trim-Tex’s 847 Spray Adhesive is intended only for vinyl corner bead and other vinyl drywall finishing accessories.

There are many spray adhesives on the market, but the closest equivalent is double the price and high-VOC. For installing vinyl corner bead, 847 Spray Adhesive is essentially one-of-a-kind.

847 Spray Adhesive is low-VOC, less than 40% by weight.

By following a few simple safety measures, yes, 847 Spray Adhesive is quite safe to use:

• Like any other solution that uses a propellant, use 847 in a well-ventilated space — meaning, open your windows and run your fans — or outdoors. If that’s not possible, wear respiratory protection, like a respirator mask; we’d advise just wearing a respirator in any circumstance.
• Keep it away from your eyes and use protective eyewear. If it gets in your eyes, rinse them with water for several minutes. If irritation continues, seek medical attention. (Being in a well-ventilated space will also help ameliorate any risk here.)
• It could cause an allergic skin reaction — wear protective gloves and wash up after use.
• Like any aerosol, it’s flammable. Keep it away from hot surfaces, sparks, open flames and other ignition sources.

Trim-Tex is dedicated to making sure our customers know exactly how and where to use 847 Spray Adhesive safely, which is why these precautions are printed on the back of the can and the full Safety Data Sheet is easily available online.

Hold your can about eight to 10 inches away from the surface during use.

We highly recommend you spray both surfaces with 847 Spray Adhesive, wait for both to get tacky and then apply the bead to the drywall for a more permanent bond. In most cases, spraying just one surface with two coats will suffice, but your best bet for a long-lasting finish is spraying both.

First try dabbing the nozzle with a petroleum solvent. In the rare circumstance where this happens, get in touch with our customer service team and we’ll send out replacement nozzles.

We’ve tested a number of cleaners and we’ve found that orange citrus cleaners like Goo Gone remover work best.

Store 847 Spray Adhesive in a cool, dry place. Just make sure that spot is out of direct sunlight, will never exceed 120° F and is out of reach of children, and you can expect a long, safe shelf life of several years.

If you do one continuous spray on a surface, you could get 350 to 400 feet out of one can of 847, depending on thickness of the spray. But, of course, these circumstances are unusual — if you’re spraying twice on the bead and/or drywall, you will get around 180 to 200 linear feet of corner bead.

Trim-Tex's Architectural Z Shadow Bead is a vinyl accessory that allow you to create a reveal effect on the edge of drywall where it butts up against other elements of a space, like base trim, ceilings, door frames, windows, et cetera. Its mud leg and two rigid vinyl flanges form a zig-zagged shape that gives the bead its name and gives you a cleaner, easier way to create recessed edges that add minimalist flair to any room. While there are practically endless uses for Z Shadow Bead, the most common application you’ll find is around doors, above baseboards or instead of baseboards, causing your drywall to appear as if it’s almost floating above it.

Architectural F Reveal Bead is nearly the same as Z Shadow Bead, but with an added flange that caps off the profile, forming an “F” shape. With that extra flange, F Reveal Bead creates the strongest reveal detail when butting up against finished/non-drywall components like door jambs and windows — sometimes Z Shadow Bead may require backing behind it to match this kind of strength.

Both Trim-Tex products have their advantages! While F Reveal Bead creates a stronger reveal, if your framing’s not perfectly straight, it can result in slight inconsistencies. Z Shadow Bead is a little more forgiving when windows/door frames aren’t totally even.

We understand that these beads' unusual shapes makes it tricky for mitering it on an angle! But the solution is simple enough: take a small piece of scrap drywall — use ½” drywall for a ½”-sized Z Shadow Bead, for example — and carefully place it (far away from the miter saw’s blade, of course) behind the bead’s mud leg. This way, you’ll have an even width that won’t bend as you cut it. Learn more about this technique here.

To cut for an intersection at an inside corner, position the bead vertically with the mud leg facing up, and to cut for a horizontal to vertical joint, lay the bead horizontally against the miter saw's base plate.

Yes! These bead’s vinyl flanges are 100% paintable. We find it easier to paint the bead your desired color before installing it, but you can do it while painting the rest of your wall if you’d like.

This is a common problem, with a simple solution. Rather than use masking tape that can easily fall into the gap of the reveal detail, before you start mudding, insert a length of rope into that gap. Then, when you’re done mudding and/or painting, rip out that rope for a satisfying finish. Check out White Hawk Drywall demonstrating this “rope trick” on a long run of Architectural Reveal Bead here.

No, there's no need for pre-formed end caps with Trim-Tex's Architectural Reveal Bead — you can easily make them yourself! For a simple way to terminate a reveal mid-wall, take a scrap piece of Reveal Bead and cut along the inside edge of the recessed channel with a utility knife to create your stop piece. Then, trim the size to just slightly larger than the width of the installed reveal to form an end cap. Learn more, with step-by-step photos, here.

You can do it either way! If the ground is uneven at all, however, we’d recommend installing the flooring first before anything else to avoid an inconsistent reveal effect.

There are many ways to do this, but here's what we recommend for perfect installation with minimal hassle: First, install flooring if your ground is slightly uneven, then install your drywall, leaving enough room for both your base trim and the reveal effect. To do that, we’d recommend temporarily screwing in a bit of scrap drywall where your baseboards would go. After the drywall is hung, remove the spacer, install your Z Shadow Bead, then finish the bead with mud. Paint your walls and, if you want, your trim. Only after all that’s done, install your baseboards. Learn more about how to execute this design here.

Though this term has its origin as a specific product, it’s now become a common industry term used for reveals in general. Z Shadow Bead is Trim-Tex’s own vinyl solution — accept no substitutes!

We know this can be a tricky bead to install correctly! Check out the full online product details for Architectural Z Shadow Bead for installation information and video. But here are some quick links to help you install this amazing vinyl bead:

• ANIMATION: Architectural Z Shadow Bead Installation Guide
• Where to Use Architectural Z Shadow Bead
• Create a Trimless Door with Architectural Z Shadow Bead
• Mastering Z Shadow Bead | Jobsite Journals

Buttboard Drywall Backer is an OSB (oriented strand board) engineered wood solution used to create flat butt joints using less mud, saving users both time and money. It's not just a regular plank of wood, though; it's uniquely engineered to be slightly thicker on each side than it is in the middle.

Typically, for tapered “factory edge” joints, the intersection of two drywall sheets forms a recessed cavity. In that case, when tape and mud are applied on that joint, you're still generally left with a pretty flat, even surface. Meanwhile, a butt joint forms anytime two cut ends of drywall sheets meet, or “butt up,” against each other. Butt joints are formed from these cut ends of drywall, meaning, without that cavity made by factory-finished edges, your finishing work will form a hump that must be feathered out properly to get a smooth, paint-ready surface. And hiding that joint is a slow and fussy process, requiring a considerable buildup of mud.

Since Buttboard has that sunken middle section, attaching your drywall sheets to this backing material instead of just your studs means it's able to pull back the cut edges of those sheets, simulating a factory edge. This way, we still get that recessed joint in the drywall, helping you to create perfectly flat walls using around half the time and material you would otherwise.

Yes! The same time-and-material savings from using Buttboard Drywall Backer within walls apply to most drywall ceilings. Proper installation is required for best function and use.

Drywall comes in two sizes, 48" and 54". The two sizes of Buttboard Drywall Backer are manufactured to match these sizes, so you can have butt joints that are easier and faster to finish no matter what drywall you use.

No, Buttboard Drywall Backer needs to be more centered — the joist will not allow the Buttboard to pull up the drywall. Six inches is your border line. This is also true for using Buttboard near a stud.