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c/carpet-installersninasanchezninasanchez1mo agoOG Member

The guy from Big Bob Carpets told me to use a power stretcher on every room and I thought he was just trying to upsell me

So I been doing carpet installs for about 4 years now, mostly small bedrooms and closets. I always used a knee kicker and just pulled real tight by hand. Seemed fine to me. Last month I did a 12x15 living room for a customer near Denver and it came out okay but I noticed a small ripple by the doorway. Guy from Big Bob Carpets (local supply shop) told me months ago to rent their power stretcher for anything over 10x10. I finally tried it on my next job and man, that ripple issue vanished. Now I'm wondering how many other rooms I messed up. Do you guys use a power stretcher on every room no matter what size?
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2 Comments
shah.olivia
shah.olivia1mo agoMost Upvoted
Did you ever check the backing on those old jobs for buckling? I had a similar thing happen with a buddy's basement job years ago where we thought tight was tight enough, then the humidity hit and it looked like a accordion. Power stretchers are a pain to lug around but they really do save you from callbacks.
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noah_barnes
noah_barnes1mo agoMost Upvoted
Power stretchers are overkill for small rooms, a good knee kicker and some technique does the same thing without all the setup hassle.
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