Swapped my knee kicker for a power stretcher on a big job and wow

Honestly, I always thought knee kickers were fine for residential work. But last week I had a 20x30 living room in Austin and the carpet kept bunching up. Borrowed a buddy's power stretcher and got it flat in half the time. Has anyone else noticed that much of a difference on longer runs?

2 comments

2 Comments

jake1919d ago

Jumped right into the power stretcher life and never looked back. Tbh, I used to think knee kickers were the only way, then I tried stretching a tight hallways with one and it bunched up so bad the customer's cat started using it as a scratching post. Switched to a borrowed power stretcher on a 15x12 room and got it flat in like 20 minutes, no sore knees either. feels like cheating. Now I keep both in my van, but the power one gets way more use on anything over 12 feet.

sean_park89d ago

Is it just me or does every trade have that one tool you put off buying for years and then wonder how you ever lived without it? I see the same thing with my buddy who does drywall - he fought using a still for years and now he wont hang a single sheet without it. The knee kicker thing reminds me of using a regular hammer vs a nail gun. Sure the old way works but once you feel the difference there's zero going back. And you're right about that hallway nightmare, tight spaces always punish you for trying to save time.