Can we talk about whether we should power stretch or just kick everything in?

I tried just power stretching a living room in Austin last month and the carpet looked perfect. But my old boss would always say you have to knee kick the edges for a tight fit. I got curious and only power stretched the main area then kicked the edges. Customer complained about loose spots near the baseboards a week later. Now I'm second guessing everything. What do you guys do for the edges? Do you kick or stretch? And has anyone else had a job where power stretching alone did the trick?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyfox13d ago

Power stretching alone is fine until it isn't. That Austin job might have held up if the subfloor was perfect but most houses have some weird dip or hump near the baseboards. Knee kicking those edges is just insurance against the trim hiding a bad spot. Take this with a grain of salt but I've seen guys get away with all power stretch until someone walks across a corner and a wave pops up. Really depends on how much you trust your equipment and the room shape.

robinson.matthew12d ago

Honestly, I push back on that a little. I've done probably 200 rooms with nothing but a power stretcher and never had a wave pop up, the key is just taking your time and getting the right tension across the whole field. If your subfloor is that bad, a knee kicker isn't gonna save you either, it just masks a problem that'll show up later when the carpet settles.