17
Overheard a guy at the supply house talking about knee kickers
I was at the supply house waiting for my order last Tuesday and this older installer was telling a younger guy to stop using his knee kicker on every stretch. Said most guys lean into it too hard and end up tearing the backing on stretch-in carpets. He was talking about how you only really need it for the first pass along the wall, then use the power stretcher for the rest. Made me think about how I've been doing it. I definitely lean hard on the knee kicker out of habit. Tried his method on a job yesterday and it actually saved me from fixing a seam that would've popped. Anyone else use their knee kicker less than they used to?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
the_sam2d agoMost Upvoted
Gotta admit @blair_webb, I'm not sure it's that deep. I've leaned hard on my knee kicker for years and never had a backing tear on me. Seems like one of those things where if you're already careful it don't matter much.
10
carr.lee2d ago
Hear you on that. I've been running the same cheap knee kicker for over a decade and never had any backing issues either. Half the time people hammer those things like they're driving nails instead of stretching carpet. You gotta feel the tension not just muscle it through. I think some guys just get too aggressive with the kicker and then blame the tool when something gives. Most of the time it's user error not a design flaw. If you're careful and know what you're doing that backing thing is basically a non issue.
3