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Showerthought: I used to think you always needed a power stretcher for a big room
Last month I had a 20 by 15 foot living room in a tight old house with a winding staircase. My power stretcher head would not fit up the stairs, no way. Everyone says you have to have it, but I was stuck. I ended up using a knee kicker and a trick I saw online, putting a scrap of carpet pad under the kicker foot for extra grip on the tack strip. It took me about an hour longer, but the stretch was tight and the job passed inspection. Has anyone else been forced to make a knee kicker work on a larger space and found a good trick for it?
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jake_chen18d ago
Man, that's rough. Honestly, I feel your pain on that one. When you're in a tight spot like that and the "right" tool just won't fit, you gotta get scrappy. That pad trick sounds legit though, I'll have to remember it for the future. Sometimes the old school methods end up teaching you more than the fancy gear anyway.
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kelly.parker2mo ago
That trick with the carpet pad under the kicker is smart. It reminds me of how we get stuck on the "right" tool for any job, from cooking to home repairs. Sometimes the perfect tool just won't fit the situation, and you have to get clever with what you have on hand. Making the simpler tool work better often teaches you more about the job itself.
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