Hot take: I stopped using a knee kicker entirely on residential jobs

Switched to a power stretcher for every room including small closets after a job in Austin last fall and I'm getting cleaner seams with way less back pain - anyone else ditch the knee kicker completely or am I the only one who thinks it's overrated?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan_shah3822d agoTop Commenter

Well, I read an article from a flooring trade magazine a while back that claimed power stretchers actually reduce seam peaking in residential carpet because they pull from the backing more evenly than a knee kicker can. Made sense to me after I tried it in a bedroom with a tricky corner. Seems like the extra time setting it up pays off when you don't have to go back and fix a ripple a month later.

wren63823d ago

Gotta say I was team knee kicker for years until my knees started complaining. Had a job last month where I tried the power stretcher in a tiny hallway and the seams came out way flatter than usual. I'm officially converted now too.

thomas_torres22d ago

Funny how nobody's mentioned the part where the size of the room matters way more than we give it credit for? In a tight hallway a knee kicker can't get the right angle anyway, you end up fighting it the whole time. Power stretcher just sits there and does the work without you twisting your back into a pretzel. The trade off is hauling that big thing around, but for certain spots it's worth dragging it out of the truck once you know.