Meet the Fast Edge® Family: A Faster Finish for Every Corner

As many Trim-Tex customers will remember, in 2019, we introduced the first member of the Fast Edge® family, which delivered on our promise to make a corner bead that finishes faster than anything else on the market while using less mud. But we’re not a one-and-done manufacturer — we partner up with our drywall finishers, listening to their needs and creating new solutions to meet them.

First, we launched Fast Edge Paper (now available in two sizes!), and then a few years later, we rolled out Fast Edge Rolls and rounded out the family with Fast Edge Paper Inside Corner Bead. With the Fast Edge family of products growing, we wanted to take this time to go through each member of that family and explain which bead is right for which situation. This way, next time you’re visiting your local drywall supply dealer, you’ll be better informed for what beads to buy for your next project.

Let’s dig into the Fast Edge family and show how we've evolved this solution, and how you can achieve a faster finish for every corner! 

Meet Each Member of the Fast Edge® Family

Fast Edge® Paper: The Paper-Covered Vinyl Corner Bead

For years, our customers asked us to make a paper-covered corner bead. And we listened! We took our highly resilient vinyl corner-bead design and encased it in a layer of laminated paper for the best of both worlds: the strength of our vinyl Mud Locks and the conveniency and crack-conquering power of paper. The result, Large Fast Edge Paper, was the fastest-selling product in Trim-Tex history, and drywall finishers have raved about its speed, mud savings and high levels of durability.

Your paper-covered options are also growing: in addition to the larger size, Trim-Tex also offers a version with a 13% smaller surface area — Medium Fast Edge Paper — allowing you to spend less to get the same mud-saving speed that made this bead beloved by drywall finishers worldwide. 

Fast Edge Paper is installed with no glue or staples — just run it through a hopper or apply mud to your corner before pushing the bead into place. We’d recommend picking up a Pro Series Quad Roller to help you install this bead evenly across your entire corner.

When is Fast Edge Paper right for me?

If you’re like many drywallers, you’re used to the look and feel of paper-covered corner beads, so Fast Edge Paper is going to be an easy transition into using higher-quality, more durable Trim-Tex solutions. It’s also more adaptable than regular Fast Edge, as you can easily flex it to adapt to off-angle corners. If you want to experience speed and mud savings along with the user-friendly ease of paper, you have got to try Fast Edge Paper.

Fast Edge® Roll: Flexible Off-Angle Drywall Solution

Many drywall workers we heard from didn’t just want a paper-covered version of Fast Edge, they wanted a version they could carry around in a conveniently sized box and roll out for all kinds of angles — inside corners, outside corners, off angles, sharp angles, you name it. And we agreed! After a few years of testing and perfecting the formula, we were proud to roll out the next evolution of the Fast Edge family: Fast Edge Roll. With 100 feet of bead in a single box, Fast Edge Roll takes everything you love about these Fast Edge beads and puts it into a highly handy rolled form, available in four widths.

To install Fast Edge Roll, just blade mud onto the drywall and push the bead into place before wiping down the excess mud along its edges.

When is Fast Edge Roll right for me?

There aren’t a lot of corners Fast Edge Roll isn’t awesome at finishing, but its specialty is off-angle inside corners. If you’re craving the convenience of a rolled drywall corner bead, and the straighter lines of a bead compared to paper tape you can’t do better than this solution. Our friend Phil from PRC Taping calls Fast Edge Roll his “new go-to,” saying he likes to use the Roll on his inside corners and Fast Edge Paper on his outsides for his flawless finishes.

Fast Edge Paper Inside Corner Bead: Paper-Covered Vinyl Solution for Perfect 90° Inside Corners

Rounding out the Fast Edge family is the Fast Edge Paper Inside Corner Bead, the ideal paper-covered solution for creating straighter lines in less time, every time, on inside corners. These beads are built to resist dings, dents and whatever other wear-and-tear you can throw at your inside corners, keeping them looking great for a long time to come. As with the other members of the Fast Edge family, its vinyl core is unbeatably durable, while its laminated-paper cover forms a strong bond to the drywall. 

When is Fast Edge Inside Corner Bead right for me?

When you want your 90° inside corners looking straight and crisp — and you want them to stay looking that way for years, no matter how many times they get whacked — paper tape may just not cut it. Instead, you'll want to reach for this highly durable, easy-to-use inside corner bead to make it fast and simple to protect your inside corners for the long term. And by using this bead alongside Fast Edge Paper for your outside corners, and Fast Edge Roll for your off-angles, you’ll now be able to finish an entire project with all your angles aligned to match one another.

Now that you’ve met the whole Fast Edge family of drywall finishing accessories, which will you use on your next project? Maybe one, maybe all of them! Use the tool below to find your nearest supplier, and start saving time and material for a gorgeous, long-lasting finish!