Products – Both of these are designed as prefinished joint tape, which means they require very little joint compound to finish them off. No mud is applied directly to the surface, only on the edges. You only need to feather the edges for a quick and smooth transition to the wallboard. The overall quality of these products is something you'll notice the first time you handle them. Ultraflex is 4³/₁₆ inches wide and laminated with a high-grade white paper board for the top finish coat. It has a plastic center, and the back is standard joint tape (off-white in color) that's 3⁵/₁₆ inches wide and separated in the center (lengthwise). It's very rigid, but remains flexible because a built-in hinge allows it to be used in just about any angle for inside and outside corners. It's also great for those off-angles found in tray, coffer, and vaulted ceilings.

Ultraflex's rigidity allows you to make one inside or outside corner out of a continuous length – no more worry about two or three pieces (Figure 9-10). After you cut Ultraflex to length with scissors, fold and put it into place. It'll maintain its form regardless of length. It's self-straightening and will withstand movement and extreme impacts.

Photo Courtesy of: NO COAT Products

Figure 9-10 (left) Installing Ultraflex prefinished joint tape Figure 9-11 (below) QUICK'N'EASY corner goes into place Photo Courtesy of: NO COAT Products

QUICK'N'EASY CORNER is the little brother to Ultraflex. It, too, is a joint tape laminated in two layers (the topside is white and the back is off-white) and it's 3⁵/₈ inches wide. The edges are torn to taper toward the back and it's also self-straightening. QUICK'N'EASY CORNER appears to be about five times the thickness of standard joint tape currently on the market, yet it's still pliable enough to work with (Figure 9-11). Once it's installed into the first coat of mud, smooth out the joint tape surface as you normally would, using a 6-inch taping knife. Finish by feathering the edge. QUICK'N'EASY CORNER is distributed by both NO COAT and GRABBER Construction Products.

Remember, both prefinished products were designed to eliminate the heavy costs of mud, days of drying time, heavy sanding, and – most of all – labor costs.

Manhours – You can buy both Ultraflex and QUICK'N'EASY CORNER for between $30 and $45 for a 100-foot roll, which is high. But you could save up to 75 percent on your labor cost, plus savings on the amount of mud required. That's after you've learned to use the product, of course. With that in mind, remember that I've already established 0.030 manhours per linear foot as a working figure for standard tape-on corners. Since you'll be saving up to 75 percent, use 0.0075 manhours per linear foot as your new figure for inside and outside corners using Ultraflex and QUICK'N'EASY CORNERS. Don't use this figure the first time around; instead use 0.030 manhours per linear foot. For all other seams use 0.007 manhours per linear foot for wall joints and 0.009 manhours per linear foot for ceiling joints using standard joint tape. These figures are based on a one-man crew.

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