Debate: Is a power stretcher always better or just faster?

I saw a huge difference in a job I did last month. Used a knee kicker on a 12x15 room and got good results, but the next room I used a power stretcher and the seams were way tighter. Does speed alone make it the better choice for most residential work, or is the extra time on the knee kicker worth it for avoiding damage to walls?

2 comments

2 Comments

grace_hunt841mo ago

actually i gotta push back a little on the idea that a power stretcher always means tighter seams. in my experience, if you don't set the carpet right with the knee kicker first, that power stretcher can actually pull too hard and create puckering or even separate the backing. i did a 14x20 room last spring where i tried to skip straight to the power stretcher on a tricky corner, had to redo half the room. your mileage may vary but i've found that using the knee kicker for the initial stretch and then finishing with the power stretcher gives me the best of both worlds - tight seams without risking wall damage or overstretching. so it's not really about speed vs. quality, more about knowing when to use each tool.

rayc891mo ago

Idk man, I gotta disagree with that. I've been doing this for about eight years now and I tried that knee kicker first approach a bunch of times. What I found is that if you get it tight with the knee kicker and then hit it with the power stretcher, you're actually more likely to cause ripples or blowouts in the middle of the room. You're basically doubling the tension. I did a 10x12 hallway last summer where I used just the knee kicker and the seams looked like crap after a month. Redid it with only the power stretcher, no knee kicker at all, and it's still perfect. Maybe it's just me but I think people are afraid of the power stretcher because it takes practice to get the head angle and the pins right. Once you learn that, it's way better for seams.