I spent $500 on a power stretcher kit and it paid off in one week

Bought a high end power stretcher with all the attachments from a guy retiring last spring. Cost me $500 but I had been using my old beat up one that kept slipping on the pin. First job was a 2000 square foot house in Salt Lake City and I finished the main rooms in half the time. On the other hand my buddy swears by using knee kickers for everything and says power stretchers just add weight to your van. So which way do you lean on going big for a power stretcher or keeping it simple?

2 comments

2 Comments

troy_wilson818d ago

That line about "power stretchers just add weight to your van" is something I hear a lot, but honestly, once you've done a few big carpet rooms with a quality power stretcher, you won't go back to fighting a knee kicker. For me, the time saved on the first job paid for that $500 kit and then some, especially on carpets with tight backing that just eat up a knee kicker's effort. If you're mostly doing small bedrooms or closets, a knee kicker is fine, but for anything over about 300 square feet, go big for the power stretcher.

blair_allen18d ago

My buddy Dave tried to save money on a big job once by using just a knee kicker on a 600 foot room... took him three days and his knee was shot for a week after. He ended up renting a power stretcher for the next one and finished in one day. I think about that every time someone says they're too heavy, like yeah they're a pain to haul around but so is crawling on the floor for hours. I've seen guys try to do a whole house with just a knee kicker and the wrinkles look terrible, then blame the carpet. Same guys probably still carry their tools in milk crates too.