Took me 5 years to figure out I was using the wrong knee kicker

I always thought the carpet was supposed to bunch up a little so you could stretch it tight, but last month my buddy came over to help on a 12x15 bedroom and laughed his ass off at my technique. Turns out I was stretching from the wrong angle and causing ripples that I'd been blaming on the padding for years. Did anyone else learn a basic tool trick embarrassingly late in the game?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.jessica1d ago

Wait were you making the kicker point toward the wall or away from it? Because I've seen guys argue both ways and now I'm paranoid I've been doing it wrong too. My first year in the trade I was using a knee kicker with the pins all the way out and wondering why I kept tearing the backing. Did you figure out the angle thing from watching a video or did someone actually show you in person?

wadejenkins1d ago

@fisher.jessica you just blew my mind, I never even thought about the pins being adjustable lol

smith.lee1d ago

Point the kicker toward the wall and you wont tear the backing nearly as much, I've tried both ways plenty.