About metal corner beads.

Duck stenciled stucco in Honduras Duck stenciled stucco in Honduras

LEFT: Type "1-A" corner bead.
RIGHT: Badly deteriorated beads in Washington, DC. These metal corner beads, named 1-A by US Gypsum, are made for Interior Use only, and should never be used outside. These are different from western style Quik Corners, which are made for exterior use.

Duck stencils.

The flange on this 30 year old corner bead has completely rotted off leaving just the bead itself, in Reston Virginia.
This is pretty sad for a material that should last for centuries.
We used these beads for years. Why ? They were always specified for commercial work. I stopped using them after I discovered our jobs were falling apart after less than ten years.

Cast concrete chess set.

The bead is made to be left exposed. On this interior plaster application, I am holding a straight edge against the corner bead showing an eighth of an inch gap between the brown coat and the finished wall thickness. This allows room for the finish coat.

Failure to allow room will leave a ragged looking corner that can chip off.

MORE about corner beads here..

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Thanks for reading all these years.