X Crack

Tim0282

Have any of you guys or gals used X Crack?
If so, do you like it? And did it help?

precisionbuild

I like Strait-Flex products, but I still think No-Coat has them beat for no cracking products.

Tony M

No way! I've heard it's like 3 times the strength of normal crack cocaine.

Tim0282

The XCrack goes on before the rock to help make off angles straighter.

precisionbuild

I know what xcrack is. And it's primary objective is: anti cracking. You can use the same principles without it that you would with it to help straighten the joint. You just have to think a few minutes about it while you are hanging.

I still stand by my original statement. NoCoat has better anti-crack products.

Tim0282

Thanks for your reply. I agree with you, just always looking for an improvement. I prefer the Nocoat for sure. Have you used the Big Stik for outside 90's? They mud on. Great bead. Use the Mud Pro from Straight Flex to apply the mud to the bead, then stick it on the wall, roll and mud over. No bead crack at the bottom from the trim guys hitting the bead. Fast way to install bead.

AARC Drywall

x crack is a waste of money, you can get the same gage tin, or flashing for 50% of the cost, and it does the same job, as long as you install it properly that is....and if your worried about making the vault look straight use no coat..

__________________
Profit is NOT a dirty word....Cheap is....

Tim0282

That's what I have used since they started making it. Have always been happy with it. So, I guess I'll just keep using it. That is until you guys tell me of an improved product and tell me to use it.

Mud Master

Did a 550 room hotel bout six months ago. Master & ambassador suites had vaults in the living area. Strait-Flex dealer calls me and asks me to demo the product, sends me 100ft to try out. Now usually when we frame the building we do it right do there is minimal if any need to compensate or straighten out, unless it's something out of our control, like shifting or settling of wood framing. However with the size of the drywall on this project & others we were doing we declined to provide a proposal to frame it.

So they subbed the framing out to two different framing contractors, one for the metal framing & shaft walls, and one for the wood framing. Why neither sub was capable of completing both is beyond me but thats the way they did it. The wood framing sub was mostly residential but due to the downfall of the economy got his hand on this bid & won it. He had minimal in-house men (maybe 15-20), and used three different hispanic subs to make up the 120 men he needed to do his work. Needless to say, they completely ****** it up.

Now, i'm not being prejudice against hispanics, I have around 75-80 on the payroll, however they are all legal, tax paying, and make a living wage. These were not these kind of hispanics, as most were illegal minus the owner of the "company" himself. The vaults were so bad they actually had to tear out and re-do four of them, and when they reframed them, they weren't much better, but met the minimal standards to be considered framing. Of course, this caused major problems for us, especially considering how intricate they had to be, as it was surrounded by barrels & coffered ceilings and basically just high end rooms for a high end hotel.

When we get to those areas of the project I told my super to go 'head and give the X-crack a try. In the past situations where we didn't frame, and a couple times when we did make a mistake, we did what AARC said. I would have my sheet metal shop shear up some galv angle for us, at the correct angles & install it to straighten the poor framing. The X-crack, for us, didn't do anything profitable for us. It seemed to take 2x-3x longer for us to install than our usual method, which comes from the shop already at the proper lengths. It was also a bitch to KEEP straight when we were trying to get it in the correct position to fasten it.

Also, the way you have to install the drywall on it after installing the X-crack itself, also just took to much time in a production setting. In their defense, it was our first time & there was a learning curve, but it didn't save or make us any money. When the rep called to see if I was ready to place the order I politely declined, it is way to much money overall for the product given the issues we experienced with it. I had even thought of buying a few boxes just to keep in the warehouse for whenever, but I would never use it, and it would collect dust.

NO-COAT is heaven for us, and the double barrel hopper makes production increase even more. Their L-trim for windows, doors & terminations saves so much time over tear-away or j bead. We use NO-COAT exclusively for everything, and buy that sh*t by the truckload!!

I apologize for the long a** post, but if your trying to make the decision on what to do, I would stick to NO-COAT for taking care of your off-angles. If the irregular framing is THAT bad, just call a/your sheet metal shop & have them fabricate some tin to those angles. We used to just buy the flat stock, and make what we needed in the field, but from a production stand point, it was cheaper to have them make it to the angle & length we needed, all we have to was fasten it.

IMO....buy NO-COAT with the money you would of spent on the X-crack, or other Strait-Flex products, and get your monies worth.

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simplejack

...I bet you Gave X Crack a try!

Why did you bring up that they where "Hispanics"? is it because Colombians make good brand X?!

Mud Master

For the same reason we all bring it up on here. It was, and I stated, that they were illegal, had nothing to do with the color of their skin. As I said I employ hispanics, african americans, whites, I even have a asian project manager. I don't hate, or discriminate.

I wasn't speaking of their race in general, sorry to offend ya.

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simplejack

It just reminds me of those people who get into the spotlight for some reason and quicky say: but "one of my good friends is...." no need to explain man!...I swear if I ever get in the spotlight for that I'd be like Yeah! so! I hate those people! if they all could have but one throat!....I'd....choak them til there beans fall out.... the people who know me would know that I'm just acting a fool, and thats all I care about!...But seriously that was a long Crack induced post!

Brocktologist

Jack, you crack me up!

Tim0282

Good post Mud master. Well written and informative first hand info. Worth the read! Thanks for taking the time to write.

kgphoto

I have used the X-crack and it has worked well for me. I found it very easy to install and keep straight. Not sure why this would have been so hard for you. I have just eyeballed, set it to a string, or snapped line, and a laser. All of them work fine.

I like the NO-Coat paper tape and the Strait-Flex paper tape better than the original Strait-flex. I really like the ones with the inked line down the center. Much easier to see it go on straight.

The X-Crack not only straightens, but absorbs movement that doesn't get transferred to the tape, so reduces cracking. It is also handy when there isn't backing in the wall where it is supposed to be. I used the 10 foot sticks and the 100 foot roll. That roll is very heavy. The ten foot sticks are easier to work with.

d's

I recently tried x-crack for the first time in an attic space addition of a 100 year old miners cottage - under a hip roof with plenty of dormers, kneewalls, etc...

I rely on no-coat for all my off angles but the framing on this one required some additional measures. The x-crack straightened out the framing, provided backing where it was otherwise insufficient, and due to the tab design allows the framing to move independently of the joint. It saved substantial backframing, boarding frustrations, and hopefully added some longevity to the work making the $85 expense for a box of the product worthwhile.

To get it perfect still required snapping lines, prefilling accordingly(I've been using a 60/30 mix of 90min. setting compound and confill for big fills), and No-Coat 450.

Overall great product for exceptional circumstances but worth having in the toolkit. If I had a metal shop I'd make my own but alas I am only a little fish.

D'S