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Chatted with an old-timer at a supply house who said stretch-ins are killing modern carpet jobs
He told me he's been installing since 1979 and thinks power stretchers are making people lazy about proper seaming, and honestly after fixing a ripple in a living room yesterday that was clearly from not enough knee kicks, I'm starting to wonder if he's got a point, anyone else run into installers who rely too much on the power stretcher?
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torres.jason2mo ago
Oh man, @brookerobinson you gotta hear me out on this one. I saw a job last week where a guy used a power stretcher across a 12 foot span and the seam literally lifted overnight because he didn't work it in right. Half the installers I meet now don't even own a knee kicker and it shows. They just crank the power stretcher and walk away, thinking it fixes everything. That old-timer knows what he's talking about, there's no substitute for getting on your knees and working the carpet into the tack strip with a proper kick.
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the_fiona2mo ago
My buddy Jim runs a shop in Tucson and he tells me about a guy he hired last year who showed up with a power stretcher that still had the price tag on it. Brookerobinson I get what you're saying about drama but I saw that same seam lift thing happen in a bedroom where the homeowner had been walking on it for a week and the glue was already drying out. That old timer at the supply house probably remembers when knee kickers were the only option and you had to feel every inch of the tack strip with your thumb before you even started. I swear half the problems I fix now come from people cranking tension on a power stretcher without doing the base work first.
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