Chose a power stretcher over hand knee kicker for a tricky room

Finally had to decide between renting a power stretcher or just using my knee kicker for a 20 foot long hallway with weird curves. Went with the power stretcher and man it saved my back but took forever to set up the poles. Anyone else find the setup time worth it for bigger jobs?

4 comments

4 Comments

david_reed226d ago

Dude I feel like the power stretcher is proof that I'm not as smart as I think I am. Every time I pull it out I spend 20 minutes staring at the poles trying to remember which order they go in and then I gotta watch a YouTube video real quick. But man once you get it set up and you feel that carpet just lock in place, it's like the difference between a handshake and a fist bump. The kicker always leaves me with those little ghost bubbles that show up the next day like I didn't even do anything. And honestly my knees stopped hurting after I switched, so even if I look like a goof setting up the poles, I'll take it.

wren_mitchell6d ago

Found the floor guys cussing me out less because I wasn't crawling around like some broken puppet after a 10 hour day. Setup time's annoying but that extra tension saved me from having to redo a stupid wave I usually get with the kicker.

smith.elliot6d ago

Found the floor guys cussing me out less" haha yeah that's real. The setup time is a pain but once you got it dialed in, the tension is way more even than a kicker can ever give you. For a 20 foot hallway with curves, you absolutely made the right call. A knee kicker on that long of a run will leave you fighting bubbles and lippage all day. I've wasted way too much time re-stretching carpets that I thought were tight enough with the kicker but weren't. The power stretcher poles are annoying to figure out at first, but once you do it a couple times it gets faster. Just make sure the padding underneath is good and you don't tear the carpet on the pins.

zara_sanchez6d ago

What is it about power stretchers that makes you feel like you're putting together IKEA furniture blindfolded the first time? I swear the first three times I used one I spent more time adjusting poles than actually stretching carpet. But yeah, once you get the hang of it you notice right away how much tighter the job feels compared to a kicker. Hallways with curves are where the kicker really lets you down, I've had to redo runs before because I thought I had it but the next morning there's a bubble. Glad you're getting less grief from the floor guys, that alone is worth the setup headache.