Unpopular opinion: I thought those knee kicker pads were a total waste of money

For years I just used a folded up scrap of carpet padding, figured it did the same job for free. Then I did this massive install in a three story house, over 2000 square feet of Berber. My knees were killing me by the end of day one. My buddy on the crew tossed me his ProKnee pads and told me to just try them. I was so sure they'd be bulky and get in the way. Man, was I wrong. The difference after eight hours was night and day, no more sharp pain every time I had to really lean into a stretch. I bought my own pair the next week. Has anyone else had a tool they swore was pointless that actually saved them?

4 comments

4 Comments

murphy.aaron3mo ago

Oh man, that's the truth. It's always the big job that breaks you. I held out on a decent headlamp for way too long, just used a cheap one from the hardware store. The battery life was awful and the light was this weak yellow beam. Then I got stuck working in a crawl space all afternoon. That junk light died halfway through and I was fumbling in the dark. A good bright headlamp with a long run time isn't a luxury, it's a basic tool that lets you finish the work.

jason_lewis33mo ago

Felt the same way about those fancy laser levels for a long time. My chalk line and a sharp eye were just fine. Then I had to tile a huge bathroom floor with a complex diagonal pattern. String lines everywhere, nothing was square. Borrowed a laser level from the guy on the next job. Set up that cross line in two minutes and everything just clicked into place. Never went back to the old way.

kelly.hannah3mo ago

Man, that's exactly how it happens. You fight the new tool forever because your old way works just fine. Then you hit that one job where the old way is a total nightmare. Once you see that laser line, there's no unseeing it. It just makes the hard stuff simple.

the_claire29d ago

It hits you right in the gut when you finally admit the old way was just making things harder on yourself. Holding out on a good laser is like trying to cut a straight line with a dull saw because you're used to the elbow grease. That one job where everything goes sideways is always the one that forces you to stop being stubborn. Your story about the string lines everywhere and nothing being square is just painful to picture. Glad you got hooked up with that laser before you lost your mind with that diagonal pattern.