If you already know a thing or two about expansion beads, you’ve probably only ever heard about or used them in commercial construction. That’s because, well, you have to use expansion beads in commercial construction, as required by most building codes, when your wall partition runs unbroken for at least 30 feet. But, code requirement or no code requirement, movement in drywall causes cracks (or worse) in all kinds of structures, including single-family homes, and installing expansion beads can prevent many of them. Here’s when and where to use expansion beads in residential construction.
Expansion Beads in Residential Construction
What’s an expansion bead?
As a structure’s framing moves slightly over time, the drywall needs to move along with it, or else the stress of all that movement will cause it to crack in places. In a short wall partition, the drywall has some wiggle room. But the longer the wall or ceiling spans, the less the drywall is able to move, and the more likely cracks are to occur. When you install an expansion bead with a flexible center in strategic areas (called “control joints”) along those long walls or ceilings, it eases the stress and allows the drywall some controlled movement to expand and contract along with the framing.
Many manufacturers make a version of an expansion bead, but when given the option, just about any pro drywaller will choose Trim-Tex’s 093V Expansion for a few major reasons. First, the high-quality vinyl materials are just unbeatable when it comes to flexibility, allowing up to ⅜” controlled movement for the lifetime of the structure. Secondly, there’s the famous tear-off strips protecting the flexible center “V” from any mud spilling onto it that could threaten its elasticity. And third, there’s the options: aside from the flagship 093V Expansion, we offer the subtler Hideaway Expansion and the Fire Rated 093V Expansion.
