Unpopular opinion: stretch-ins are better than power stretchers for most residential rooms

I know everyone loves their power stretcher but last Tuesday I was doing a 10x12 bedroom in a old house in Portland and the power stretcher kept hitting the baseboard. Switched to a good old knee kicker and got it done in half the time. Anyone else find power stretchers overkill for small rooms?

2 comments

2 Comments

grant.sam1d ago

You said "half the time" but a knee kicker is actually slower on the full width. The real trick is that power stretchers let you skip the final trim cuts because the carpet is pulled tight all at once. Knee kickers leave a wavy edge that needs extra trimming, so you spent that saved time on the finish work instead.

park.robin23h ago

Gotta disagree with you on the final trim cuts part though. A knee kicker doesn't leave a wavy edge if you know what you're doing, you just have to take smaller bites and overlap your kicks. The real time sink with a power stretcher is all the setup and adjustments, especially in rooms with weird angles or lots of doorways. Plus knee kickers are way faster when you're working alone since you don't need to anchor the other end. The trim argument feels backwards to me because power stretchers can actually overstretch and create puckering if you're not careful, which means more cutting and patching anyway.