In our last episode on Round Cornerbead, I detailed the steps for using it on new work. Removing square cornerbead to replace it with round bead on existing walls is a major project that I don’t recommend unless you are really determined.
There are a few areas where it can be used on existing work. The Fireplace Freshen Project used it on the new construction, to good effect. (everybody who has seen it has gone ‘wow’)
The windows surrounding the fireplace are awkward. They have sharp corners. A lot of thought has gone into different ideas for covering up the windows. But this has been more to disguise them while allowing light through.
Making Square Round
We are going to change that. This is an area where we can change the lines without having to do any demo work. Make no mistake. There is work involved, but it will be worth it.
Here is our opening which is pretty much standard in the Southwest, for aluminum windows. The window openings are wrapped and the windows are applied from the outside.
Our ‘trimless’ opening has enough room to allow us to apply drywall to the opening without compromising the operation of the windows.
Taping the work area
Our good friend, ‘blue painters tape’ is used to cover the exposed window frame, to make our taping easier to clean up as well as forming a line to paint to.
What is not shown in this photo is the tape at the wall intersection in the corner. We are going to skim coat these walls also.
Drywall Application
We measure and cut our drywall so that it is narrower than our opening by a little more than a 1/2”. We do this so we can leave a thin gap on the window side to allow us to slip in 1/2” L bead on the window side and to be able to apply our round bead on the wall side so that it will lay flat against the existing wall. I mentioned this back cutting in our first look at round corner bead.
Remember the radius grasshopper.
Also on this type of application, we are using Power Grab to glue the drywall to the opening. The nails are only used to hold the drywall in place.
Cornerbead Application
The installing of the beads are standard (measure twice, cut once), and we are also using Power Grab behind the beads to apply them to the wall. Nailing is standard to secure the flanges.
Taping the beads
On square corner beads, I suggest only doing one side of the corners in any session. This eliminates the tendency of the mud to roll and chunk on the other side of the corner, creating more work for you, especially if you are not going to do this for a living. On round bead, you can do both sides in the same session as there is enough space between the two angles to allow you to fill and/or coat in the same session.
Skim Coating
The existing walls around the windows have texture on them. We are skim coating them to blend the walls. I have more about Skim Coating here.
Note: On this project I am using speed set for the first coat on the walls and on the cornerbeads. It’s about not spending more time on this than necessary. Your mileage will vary and you should take your time.
Coating with eggnog
I am using the USG Dust Free mud for the finish coat. It is the color of eggnog in the box, it’s my blog and so I am calling it ‘eggnog’. You can call it anything you want. In any case it is what they should have invented 30 years ago.
How dust free? Here is the floor and corner of one side. The floor is covered with red rosin builders paper. Regular mud dust would have covered the floors and walls and would still be floating around. I took this picture about 5 hours ago.
How dust free? This is the fireplace opening about three feet away. Regular mud dust would have made this almost white. Yeah it’s that good.
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