Judson Univ: Shower Bead a Faster, Cleaner Choice for Multi-Unit Bathrooms

In the drywall finishing trade for multi-unit construction, a crew needs to be efficient in ways that are easily replicated. After all, if the crew is able to use a technique that saves time in one unit, you can multiply those savings for every unit in the building. This is a major reason why Trim-Tex’s Shower Bead has become so widely used within any building or home that uses shower/tub enclosures — individual units may vary wildly, but they all need at least one bathroom.

Case in point: the contractors behind this $2.5 million renovation project at Judson University in Elgin, Ill., used Shower Bead instead of the older, slower method of finishing drywall around shower enclosures. Adopting this one drywall finishing solution was able to save them noticeable effort for each bathroom, and for all its units in total, countless man hours. Read on to learn more about this project, and hear how Shower Bead made finishing its bathrooms faster, easier and cleaner.

The project: a bank becomes a haven for future architects

In downtown Elgin, this unassuming building — a former PNC Bank, spanning 20,860 square feet — will soon become the highly modern centerpiece of Judson University’s Master of Architecture program. With 13 dorms and 2,100 square feet of studio and classroom space, up to 43 students will both live and learn here, making this seemingly small project a major undertaking for its builders (contractor SMC Construction and drywall subcontractor Heitkotter).

The solution: ‘super clean, easy to put on’

Shower enclosures can be tricky. To finish around these areas, the small gap between the enclosure and the drywall cannot take in any water. Before Shower Bead, the only common way to do this is to completely fill this gap with hot mud and tape on top of it. This takes time and effort, and typically leaves a considerable mess behind. Additionally, a moisture-rich bathroom environment frequently leads to materials like paper tape growing mold.

Trim-Tex’s Shower Bead was selected here because it is specifically engineered to make the process of finishing tub enclosures less complicated and less messy. Rather than needing to fill in that gap around the enclosure, Shower Bead simply creates a highly durable shelter over it. Simply install the bead with half-inch staples and 847 Spray Adhesive, mud and sand the bead and, when finished, apply a small bead of caulk between its edge and the enclosure. This simplified process saves time, material and labor for both single-family homes and multi-unit buildings.

“I've used Shower Bead on numerous jobs and I love it — just super clean, easy to put on,” says SMC Construction Superintendent Jon Canvin. “It's all around just a great product.”

How a tear-off strip 'saves a lot of time with cleaning up the tubs.'

The other facet of Shower Bead is its tear-off strip, a feature that’s made Trim-Tex beloved by drywallers worldwide; when we say Shower Bead is “cleaner,” this simple, perforated strip of vinyl is why. Without Shower Bead, 99% of installers will inevitably spill some mud onto the tub enclosure, requiring time spent cleaning up before moving on. Meanwhile, Shower Bead’s tear-off strip acts as a protective mask when mudding. Once the mud’s dried, you may remove the strip, leaving behind a clean, smooth finished edge.

“With the Shower Bead, what I liked about it is, normally, you have to backfill the gap in between the shower and the drywall and then you have to tape it,” says Brett Hammer, a union drywall finisher for Heitkotter. “Well, the shower itself — the basin, the tub — it gets mud all the way around it, and you end up having to clean it all off. With the Shower Bead, you got a tab that you can basically peel off and then it's pretty much clean and ready to go. That saves a lot of time with cleaning up the tubs.”

Thank you to the teams at Anguleris, SMC Construction and Heitkotter for giving us a tour of Judson University’s renovation project.

For DIYers, renovators, first-timers and skeptics, big news — you can now give Shower Bead a shot for yourself, delivered straight to your door, without having to buy a whole box of 25 sticks! Get a cost-effective Shower Bead kit online, containing six sticks of seven-foot beads, enough to finish drywall around a single tub or shower enclosure. Hit the button below to buy your kit online now!