stretchers

DJ · June 30, 2009, 05:20 PM

there's a few on ebay for you kicker jockeys....

rusty baker · June 30, 2009, 05:30 PM

Don't think it's a lack of money causing people to kick. It's quicker and easier. They don't seem to care about the physical damage it does to their bodies or the fact they can't get the carpet tight enough.

DJ · June 30, 2009, 07:03 PM

yeah,that's probably it

i like to walk and run without a limp/hurting

it comes in handy when i go hunting and hiking

plus i do not like or want callbacks

rusty baker · June 30, 2009, 07:22 PM

If i had kicked carpet all these years, I wouldn't be wrestling with my grandchildren.

TFP Admin · June 30, 2009, 08:19 PM

DJ said

there's a few on ebay for you kicker jockeys....

Linkage is good.

carpet stretcher, great deals on Business Industrial, Home Garden on eBay!

davegarden · July 1, 2009, 04:51 AM

I think the reason people kick is that they were never trained to use a powerstretcher properly. Once shown the proper way to handle a power stretcher you realize that it doesn't take that much longer. Thank you for the lessons 20+ years ago Tom Herr. I am able to play with my kids.

Demonseed · July 1, 2009, 12:46 PM

You are partially right, if you have ever done low end property management work, you will knee kick. Every job and situation is different, so it is not that people are unskilled or hacks for knee kicking it is their choice. That being said I believe all carpets should be power stretched, merely because I know I can't get as much stretch with a knee kicker as a power stretcher. I also agree that once you know how to use a Power Stretcher it does not take much longer than a knee kicker.

I have seen guys kill themselves trying to get buckles out, that would take 3 seconds with a power stretcher. As I have gotten a little older and wiser, when I bring out the Power Stretcher and the customer or contractor (whomever) says they have never seen one before, I don't say this is the only way to properly stretch carpet. I say it is the way I stretch carpet. I have said this before, at the end of the day, if you are happy, the customer is happy, the salesperson is happy, why cause any problems. Life is too short to worry about what other installers are doing, and if they are messing things up, more money for us fixing it.

davegarden said

I think the reason people kick is that they were never trained to use a powerstretcher properly. Once shown the proper way to handle a power stretcher you realize that it doesn't take that much longer. Thank you for the lessons 20+ years ago Tom Herr. I am able to play with my kids.

rgfloor · July 1, 2009, 01:46 PM

Demonseed said

You are partially right, if you have ever done low end property management work, you will knee kick. Every job and situation is different, so it is not that people are unskilled or hacks for knee kicking it is their choice. I know I can't get as much stretch with a knee kicker as a power stretcher. .

I disagree, if it is not power stretched, it is not installed properly!! Period!!!

Call them a hack, a butcher, a bump and run, Whatever!! BUT DO NOT SAY IT IS PROPERLY INSTALLED!!

Yes, every job is different, but all must be properly stretched. Oh, OK don't stretch them, it makes work for the inspectors!!

davegarden · July 1, 2009, 03:53 PM

You have to remember, alot of these guys do not know any better. All we know when we start is how we were taught. There are a ton of guys out there who have been an apprentice for 6 months. Someone taught them just enough to make a quick buck by turning them into an endentured servent. They do not know how to do things the right way until they run into someone who cares enough to inform them. That's our job as seasoned veterans of the trade, right?

Tandy Reeves · July 1, 2009, 04:20 PM

You may be 100% correct, but I find it very hard to accept ignorance as a good or acceptable excuse. Also, if they cannot read standards they cannot read posts made by those that wish to help them.

rgfloor · July 1, 2009, 04:50 PM

davegarden said

You have to remember, alot of these guys do not know any better. All we know when we start is how we were taught. There are a ton of guys out there who have been an apprentice for 6 months. Someone taught them just enough to make a quick buck by turning them into an endentured servent. They do not know how to do things the right way until they run into someone who cares enough to inform them. That's our job as seasoned veterans of the trade, right?

I can't count the guys that I trained over the years, they never went on their own until after a year. And then it was only a drop bedroom or something like that. Plus I needed a bottle of Tums till they came back.

The best one was Larry, I let him go an a drop BR at about 2 PM. and he never came back. This was before cell phones so we couldn't call him. The hillbilly spent the night there with the gal, plus he brought the check back. What a guy!!

Demonseed · July 1, 2009, 09:04 PM

I never said it was installed properly without using a power stretcher, I said 'I don't tell the customer it is the only way to properly stretch carpet'. RG floor, you are calling members of this site Hacks and Butchers, because several members have made it clear they do not Power Stretch, Some people sew, some people use a regular seam iron, some use the Kool Glide, is one way better than the others, perhaps, but it is not the only way. You going to Power Stretch a 4' x 4' landing? If someone uses a mini in a narrow hall, is that ok?

What about a Mary jane?

If you think I am a hack because I am not going to power stretch a 26 ounce piece of olefin in a section 8 property, feel free to think that, I know the carpet will be wrecked in 6 months anyway. Ever see them iron burns on the carpets? Instead of cleaning up stains they move a chair, you name it. How about when you are short on the job and the landlord says no problem, we will paint the floors..

Now, some people here have niche markets and specialties that afford them the luxury of dictating how the job will go, how the job will be installed, and yada yada yada, but that is a very small group. I remember years ago, there was a discussion here about mixing patch on the floor vs mixing patch in a bucket, several people said you can't mix patch on the floor because it could contaminate the patch, I said okay, after you mix it in the bucket where are you putting the patch? Well, if the floor can contaminate the patch, what difference does it make where you mix it. Sometimes the "Book" excludes common sense.

If you have a Gig where they will let you acclimate the product for 2-3 days every job, pay you for all the floor prep you deem fit and the manufacturer requires, pay you for every extra you can think of, More power to you. If you do all of that stuff for free 'Just to make sure the job is done by the book', then Bro, you are the Carpet Saint. Not for nothing, I know you inspectors sometimes think there is some magical Carpet Heaven, but some days you lay it on a little too thick.

rgfloor said

I disagree, if it is not power stretched, it is not installed properly!! Period!!!

Call them a hack, a butcher, a bump and run, Whatever!! BUT DO NOT SAY IT IS PROPERLY INSTALLED!!

Yes, every job is different, but all must be properly stretched. Oh, OK don't stretch them, it makes work for the inspectors!!

rgfloor · July 2, 2009, 03:56 AM

I do not want to get into a fight over this but, let's be correct, what you said is highlighted.

Demonseed said

You are partially right, if you have ever done low end property management work, you will knee kick. Every job and situation is different, so it is not that people are unskilled or hacks for knee kicking it is their choice. That being said I believe all carpets should be power stretched, merely because I know I can't get as much stretch with a knee kicker as a power stretcher.

I do not feel it is their choice!! The standards are there and I will continue to require that the standards be followed.

And, yes I know that most will kick a 26 oz section 8 job, but then please don't file a claim for wrinkles and delamination.

I am sorry if that offends you, but please understand that it is not me that wrote the standards. Thanks for understanding.

carpet lifer · July 2, 2009, 05:24 AM

My fat ass can get a 12 x 20 or so tight as a drum, with the kicker. That said, I PS anything over 12 x 12 or if its a heavy piece of goods I'll PS it too. But . I have been doing this a long time and my dad was a rug rat too. I know what will fail and what wont 99% of the time. The only call backs I do are from other guys work.......

On a side note. You cant blast in the base grade stuff with the kicker nowadays, cause it will tear a whole in the rug. Or delaminate on you. Easyer with th PS, its also easyer on seams. The jolt from the kicker can tear them too. This info is for the noobs, of course

rusty baker · July 2, 2009, 07:17 AM

Section 8 apts are all I do anymore. True they don't last more than a few months, but I still power stretch them all. I am getting paid to install them right.