Quality Curves Created with the Right Products and Proper Planning

Architects have always recognized that curves bring a sense of quality and luxury to a design. That’s why curves have been used in design for centuries. Curves also add a sense of playfulness to a space while softening harsh angles, creating movement and allowing people to flow easily through an area.

So then why are people still intimidated by curves? That is a question the good people in our Flex-Ability Concepts office ponder every day. Fortunately, we also are quick to point out the solution: creating high-quality curves simply requires the right products and proper planning.

Flex-Ability Concepts has you covered with the right products. We have three main Flex-Ability Concepts track product options: Flex-C Trac, Flex-C Angle and Flex-C Arch. Our new products have been getting a lot of press lately too: Slotted Flex-C Trac and Snap Lock. With a base name of “Flex-C Trac,” you are correct in recognizing that the Slotted version is an adaptation of the original Flex-C Trac. Slotted Flex-C Trac adds slotted legs for deflection to give framing contractors an additional method to create high-quality curved walls, columns and S-curves in specific applications. Snap Lock is a new bridging bar for an easier and faster way to snap studs into place.

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An easy way to explore product offerings is on the Flex-Ability Concepts app. To download the free app, just search “Flex-Ability Concepts” in a device’s app store or visit our website. The app provides easy access to explore products, access instructional videos, find distributors and discover more.

With products covered, planning is another obstacle contractors need to overcome. We help with that too with a website loaded with information and a YouTube channel full of videos that offer product demonstrations. The videos were created to help contractors research products and educate their crews about installations.

Proper planning also comes with experience, where trial and error prove the right and wrong way to complete framing installations. The traditional way of creating curves is with a metal track that is cut by hand with tin snips and curved by hand to the appropriate radius. While this method works, there are downfalls—like wasted material—and safety concerns. The traditional way also is time-consuming and more labor-intensive.

Ray Johnson, owner and operator of Tejas Contractors Inc., Katy, Texas, faced this dilemma when working on a store called Cycle Gear, a motorcycle shop in Katy. The architect incorporated radius soffits and curved walls for a helmet display wall and three feature walls. Heavy-gauge slip track was specified to create the curves, but Johnson relied on his 20 plus years of experience to think of another way. He determined deflection was not needed in this application and reviewed and approved the curving process with the appropriate project team.

“Slip track is designed for snow and wind loads, and we see it used a lot in Dallas and northern Texas,” Johnson explains. “The way it works is the wall goes up to the roof deck, going many feet up to the bottom of the roof joists. Then, we as the framing contractor cut and notch a slip track, which has perforations in it, to create a curved wall. A slip track doesn’t do me any good in a situation like Cycle Gear because it costs me more in labor, my guys can cut their fingers, and we don’t need a product like that because snow and wind loads are not a concern in Katy.”

What Johnson and other contractors have discovered is if a curve is created right the first time, there are no call backs to fix a flat or rough spot in the curve. Drywall contractors do not have to patch and repair curves, and painters can get in right away.

Johnson adds: “I take a job from framing through to paint. I’m not here to come in and butcher a curve that the painter is stuck dealing with, and I’m not creating more work for myself in the end.”

His crew installed 50 pieces of 20-gauge 3 5/8-inch Flex-C Trac for the curved soffits and 24 pieces of 8-inch 20-gauge Flex-C Trac on three featured curved walls.

Curves are used to solve design problems while adding striking visual interest. By partnering with us, you can overcome tough installation hurdles—just as Ray Johnson and Tejas Contractors did on the Cycle Gear project. As the curved wall and ceiling specialists, we provide the right products and expert planning support to ensure your project's success.