Gypsum products—whether board, panels, joint compound, framing, beads and more—are constantly introduced to the market. This round up of products are designed to reduce labor, improve productivity, enhance quality on the jobsite and/or help with custom drywall work.

These products are designed to make the job easier for today’s drywall contractor. Read on to learn more about these unique products, accessories and systems.

Drywall Framing

Armstrong World industries

SimpleSoffit Drywall Framing Main Beams is a prefabricated framing system that clicks into 90-degree angles right out of the box—without the need to cut angles or screw together. Main beams are precisely factory-notched and routed to your soffit dimensions or get standard items in various lengths available with prefabricated inside and outside 90-degree angles.

Why was this introduced in the market?

• Background: Soffits are a part of a ceiling installation and require extra manhours, material, on-site fabrication time, and skilled labor;
• Improve productivity for contractors: SimpleSoffit is a click-and-go solution. It eliminates the need for a jig table and the pre-production time to create the framing angles for a soffit. Time trials and project success stories show productivity increase of a minimum of 25 percent and up to two times faster than traditional installation. With increases in linear foot installation (up to two-and-a-half times), project schedules are also shorter allowing more time for the other trades in the ceiling space;
• Reduces material required: SimpleSoffit is a drywall grid system that is suspended with standard hanger wire and installed 4 feet on center with a cross-tee in between. Traditional soffit framing requires studs 16 inches on center with studs going all the way to the roof deck.
• Safer solution: Less cutting of steel, less sharp edges to contend with, fewer people required.

Its target audience are estimators, project managers and foreman/installers. Armstrong provides easy quoting and quick turnaround on drawings making it fast and easy to order and implement to a project’s specific soffit design. The product is a fast, easy way to build soffits right out of the box—no jigs, no, prefabrication time, no training required.

Onsite installation is as easy as bend, click and go. It has been tested and meets requirements for ASTM C645, ASTM C840, ASTM C754, ASTM E3118 Seismic Shake Table Testing for Ceilings.

Its key features include:

• Standard SimpleSoffit drywall framing items are available for projects in that the exact soffit dimensions are not known and a quick delivery is needed;
• Custom SimpleSoffit main beams with notch locations based on the project soffit plan;
• Pre-engineered drywall grid main beam, specifically designed for soffit application, speeds soffit installation two times faster than stud and track.
• Eliminates jigs and soffit fabrication time.

PVC Trims

Plastic Components Inc.

Plastic Components’ RADii Trim System PVC trims are the simple, efficient way to finish a suspended ceiling that terminates at a curved surface or wall. This system saves time and looks great.

In addition to being easy to install, non-metallic RADii trims are easier to handle and cost less than metal trims. They eliminate the need for expensive extruded metal components like column rings, radius reveal moldings and wall angles.

These non-metallic trims deliver a good, snug fit for perfect inside or outside radius treatments, including compound shapes and serpentine shapes.

The target audience are architects/designers and drywall installers. Their learning curve? They are easy to install but for best results follow the installation instructions or watch the online video.

It's made of highly flexible PVC material. These trims form in place to fit actual jobsite conditions perfectly.

The RADii Trim System is available throughout the U.S., Canada, Caribbean and Central America.

Wall Repair Patches

DAP Global Inc.

For either contractors or the remodeler, the Eclipse Rapid Repair Patches make completing repairs so easy and fast anyone can repair drywall damage in minutes. The product is the company’s easiest and fastest drywall repair solution, featuring an innovative all-in-one solution that eliminates the need for spackling or sanding and provides a smooth, seamless and permanent repair. Available in 2-, 4- and 6-inch patches, Eclipse takes the hassle, mess and challenge out of drywall repairs.  

Eclipse was developed to solve the most frequent drywall repair frustrations faced by professionals and do-it-yourselfers. It’s a specially designed all-in-one drywall repair solution that requires no spackling, sanding or additional tools for a completely mess-free repair. Users simply patch the damage and it’s ready to paint immediately, allowing projects to be finished in minutes, instead of hours or days.

DAP’s Research and Development team focused on testing this new innovation for strength as measured by impact resistance, as well as adhesion to the wall and paint adhesion for a seamless repair.

Offering superior doorknob impact resistance, Eclipse is stronger than drywall itself and unmatched by other repair solutions. It offers a permanent, long-lasting repair that won’t peel or lose adhesion over time. Specifically designed for easy blending, Eclipse provides a smooth finished repair that won’t flash once painted for a superior and flawless finish. It can even withstand repeated impact, such as from a doorknob, which is a unique feature for such a quick and easy patching solution.

Multi-purpose Joint Compound

Panel Rey

Ultima Light Dustbuster is a multi-purpose joint compound that is easy to apply and has an excellent finish. It produces less dust in the air during sanding, reducing the impact in the IAQ. It is specially designed to provide a smooth application with easy sanding. It is 20 percent lighter than traditional compounds and offers greater coverage with less cracking and shrinkage. This product is ideal for projects that demand high quality. It reduces more than 50 percent the dust from sanding.

Its properties make it ideal for joint finishing treatment and achieving a smoother surface.

Automatic Drywall Corner System

CertainTeed

The company’s No-Coat PRO Automatic Drywall Corner System is an automated system for cutting corners of any length. The system harnesses the combined power of No-Coat to produce ready-to-install corners with joint compound at any length—thus streamlining the installation process and limiting waste to help reduce labor and material costs.

Users can input custom and exact measurements into the system’s easy-to-use keyboard, activating precision cuts that yield exactly what is needed for each corner, which dramatically reduces waste. Custom measurements are stored for repeated cuts, and a remote control unit allows users to activate the next corner before returning to the machine, which accelerates the process and shortens overall labor time.

The system’s ability to store and automate repeated cuts makes it the ideal solution for commercial projects with recurring rooms, including apartment buildings, hotels and hospitals.

The system features a 5-gallon mud hopper that’s easy to fill, clean and store mud overnight, making the process of managing the drywall joint compound easy and efficient. Furthermore, the system offers superior strength and durability to withstand everyday wear and tear where traditional corner beads typically fail.

The system offers the best in precision and efficiency, ensuring an installation process that saves time and achieves long-lasting, and aesthetically sound results.  

Users can input custom and exact measurements into the system’s easy-to-use keyboard, activating precision cuts that yield exactly what is needed for each corner, which dramatically reduces waste. Custom measurements are stored for repeated cuts and a remote control unit allows users to activate the next corner before returning to the machine, which accelerates the process and shortens overall production time.

The system’s ability to store and automate repeated cuts makes it the ideal solution for commercial projects with recurring rooms including apartment buildings, hotels and hospitals.

Additionally, the system has become a vital tool in the     wake of the industry’s labor shortage, as the automated pace improves productivity and speeds up production time, ultimately helping users save on labor costs.   

It is easy-to-use, lightweight and portable, allowing for easy transport in and out of job sites. After on-site training with a sales rep, users can input measurements on the system’s keyboard to program custom cuts with ease.

It features an extra stiff profile that provides easy application for long spans; a wide flange that covers large gaps and poor framing; a built-in flexible hinge that adjusts to fit any inside or outside corner angle; structural laminate corner design that ensures strength, durability, labor savings and eliminates costly callbacks; produces seamless soffits.

Drywall Trowels

CO.ME Srl

The ProLite Series is one of the lightest drywall trowels on the market. The product was introduced to reduce fatigue during application. The series was introduced for drywallers or plasterers doing skim coat from Italy.

Its key features include lightness and flexibility. These trowels are 50 percent lighter [than other products].

The product has been introduced globally, including INTEX Expo.

Area Separation Firewall System

American Gypsum Co.

With the release of its patent pending ME Area Separation Firewall system, American Gypsum Co. announces the first major improvement in decades for fire and sound separation between living units of multi-family housing projects using gypsum area separation wall assemblies.

The innovative ME Area Separation Firewall system incorporates standard 2-inch wide metal H-Studs and C-Runners, but replaces the traditional two pieces of shaftliner panels with four pieces of the patent pending 4 feet wide, 1/2-inch M-Bloc Ekcel Type X Wallboard with Mold and Moisture Resistance. While increasing productivity, the ME ASF System will require up to 50 percent less of the metal H-Studs and aluminum separation burn clips, when compared to traditional gypsum area separation wall assemblies.

Fire rated by UL for 2-1/2 hours (design V344), builders and design professionals can be assured of maintaining fire and sound separation between living units within their projects by selecting the ME Area Separation Firewall System.