Corner Bead for Dummy Drywallers

damaged drywall showing a metal corner bead

Among our least-favorite types of freelance "helpers" are the ones whose information and advice about do-it-yourself projects turn out to be essentially useless. Heck, sometimes it's worse than useless, even downright dangerous. It's usually easy to spot the self-appointed expert researchers (usually journalism and "communications" majors) who are talking through their hats, because they trip themselves up when they lack even basic knowledge. We're talking about knowledge such as eHow's Ann Johnson lacked when she tried to compile the simple "About Corner Beads."¹

Johnson's unfamiliarity with corner beads is obvious from the get-go, mainly because the dummy never gets around to explaining the chief reason drywall installers add a corner bead: it's to protect the exposed edges of soft drywall at a corner. Instead, she explains that

"It gives the corner a crisp appearance by covering the gap between the two sheets of drywall that meet from each wall"...

...which, when you come down to it, is what a corner bead doesn't do. Instead, it's rounded, which is pretty much the opposite of "crisp." Johnson has lots to say about the design of corner beads, such as explaining that the flat sides are "mud legs" and that "Corner beads have holes drilled throughout their surface, some like Swiss cheese, while other styles have fewer holes. The holes allow the mud to penetrate the bead and move into the drywall."

Say what? "[M]ove into the drywall"? No, Ann, the holes are because  drywall mud won't adhere to the metal or plastic surface of the bead, so the holes allow it to adhere to the paper on the drywall. They also create little "tabs" that hold the dried mud in place.

Johnson sort of redeems herself by parroting information about adjustable and bendable beads as well as the bullnose style, but by this point the damage has been done. We don't think anyone who can't explain the structural – as opposed to decorative – purpose of the stuff has any business talking about it. Johnson did, however, and for her efforts we're naming her our Dumbass of the Day.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/about_4596726_corner-beads.html

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