Tried a knee kicker vs a power stretcher on a 40 yard stretch in Tulsa

I had a 40 yard run in a rental house over cheap pad and figured I could get away with just the kicker like I always do. The carpet looked fine at first but two days later I could see ripples near the doorway. So I borrowed a power stretcher from a guy named Ray and redid that same stretch in about 20 minutes. The difference was night and day, the power stretcher actually pulled the backing tight instead of just pushing it. Do any of you still use a kicker on big open rooms or is that just asking for a callback?

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rubyk861mo ago

A kicker done right can hold a 40 yard stretch just fine if the tackstrip is solid and you use a good knee pad with steady pressure. The problem is usually rushing the job or bad strip, not the tool itself. Power stretchers are great but they can also overstretch cheap carpet and pop seams if you don't watch it. Ray's stretcher worked because you took your time the second go around, not because the kicker is useless. Plenty of old timers never touched a power stretcher and their carpet lasted 15 years.

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