Old-timer told me to stop using a knee kicker on stairs, I argued for weeks until I tried his method

My neighbor Bob (been installing since the 80s) watched me struggling with a knee kicker on a curved staircase in a house near Tulsa. He said to use a stair tool and a power stretcher instead, and I laughed it off. After 3 hours of fighting the carpet and getting bad seams, I finally borrowed his tools and did the whole flight in under 2 hours with zero ripples. Has anyone else switched from knee kickers on stairs and regretted not doing it sooner?

2 comments

2 Comments

matthewross24d ago

You mentioned "getting bad seams" and that really hit home for me, that's the thing nobody talks about. When you're using a knee kicker on stairs you're basically just guessing at tension and hoping it holds, but a power stretcher gives you that consistent pull across the whole width. I think the real trick is how the stair tool locks the carpet into the tackless strip tight, which a knee kicker just can't do right on those angles and curves. Once you feel how solid a seam is with a power stretcher, you'll never go back to fighting with a knee kicker on stairs again.

eva_hayes23d agoMost Upvoted

Switching to a power stretcher made a massive difference for me too.