# Bullnosed arched doorways



## raven2006 (Dec 19, 2006)

I'm doing several arches with bullnose beads. Wondering if anyone has any tips on finishing them. I'm using the plastic beads so there is all these little slits from where they bend that will have to be filled with mud. Almost need a special tool or something to apply the mud to the rounded corners.


----------



## firemike (Dec 11, 2005)

Raven,

This is what I use:

http://www.trim-tex.com/catalog/staplegunsandtools.htm

It's the second item up from the bottom, the *3/4" & 1 1/2 R. Archway Bullnose Finishing Tool. *


Works nice, cleans up the radius nice too.


----------



## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

Hmmm, we've always finished any bullnose, arched or straight, 350 bull or 3/4 bull with no mud on the actual corner bead that makes up the corner. Never needed a tool to mud the corner itself since we never put any mud on it. Have we been doing something that's a no-no all this time?


----------



## raven2006 (Dec 19, 2006)

That's tool looks like would make things alot easier! I hope the drywall supplier here has one, I will buy it tommorrow.


----------



## raven2006 (Dec 19, 2006)

Mike Finley said:


> Hmmm, we've always finished any bullnose, arched or straight, 350 bull or 3/4 bull with no mud on the actual corner bead that makes up the corner. Never needed a tool to mud the corner itself since we never put any mud on it. Have we been doing something that's a no-no all this time?


 

No not at all. I do that with the regular bullnose corners. But on the archways, the beads bend and have little slots in them that need to be filled. I can't see how else you would fill the slots without covering them with mud completely. Check out the tool in the above post.


----------



## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

You guys must be getting an arch product that looks like this:









The arch product we use has no slots and looks like this:









The cut leg goes on the flat wall and gets mud over it with a knife of any size you want. The trim itself has no slots and needs no filling like the first pic.

Trim Tex sells that arch tool, but the arch they sell doesn't have slots in it like the 1st picture. Looking at their site, they actually describe that tool as a scraper now, for scraping mud off the edge of bull nose. So I don't know if they changed their arched product, but none of the arch product we buy from them has those slots anymore.


----------



## taper71 (Dec 5, 2006)

I use this for my first coat and really put the mud on thick straight out of the box. I make sure you cannot see the arch at all. I then do my next 2 coats with that white rubber bull nose tool. Make sure you have a flexable sponge.


----------



## mud dog (Jun 17, 2006)

Yes, they do sell that tool in BC. A cheaper way is to just cut 6" of nail on round bead and use the factory edge to coat the edge of the arch bead.


----------



## firemike (Dec 11, 2005)

It is still availale, it is the 3/4" radius bullnose, here is the page:

http://www.trim-tex.com/catalog/34bull.htm

2nd product down from the top.

Works great for tight radius corners with the larger profile bullnose because it is clipped like that. The 350 Bull (what Mike is referencing) has a smaller profile and bends easier, making the longer relief cuts unnecessary.


----------



## Drywalller (Jan 2, 2007)

Mike,you are using the 3/8" radius arch bead.(cobra?)
They are using the 3/4" radius or 1 1/2"bead which has the slots in them


----------



## Mike Finley (Apr 28, 2004)

Ah, I see now. Yep, all we use is the 350 bull. I must have never seen that 3/4 from them with the slots. Thanks for clearing it up.


Now I see why they sell that tool, those slots would be a major pain in the butt.


----------



## taper71 (Dec 5, 2006)

Those slits are a major pain in the butt. You really have to make sure that they are covered completely and evenly. A real test of your mudding and sanding skills IMO. I do alot of them.


----------

