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Question about using a power stretcher on thick shag carpet
I've been doing carpet for about 8 years and always avoided thick shag because I couldn't get a clean stretch without it bunching up. Last week I had a job in Portland with a 2 inch shag, tried a different technique where I used a knee kicker first then the power stretcher at a lower angle. Worked way better than I expected. Anybody else found a trick for this stuff?
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jamief671mo ago
Wait, you WET the pile with a spray bottle? Like, spray water on shag carpet before you stretch it? I'm sitting here trying to picture that and my brain just broke a little. That sounds like a one-way ticket to mold and mildew in the pad underneath, or at the very least some nasty water stains on the backing. I've seen what happens when moisture sits in thick carpet, and it's never pretty. I gotta say, that's a wild tip I'd be scared to try on a customer's floor.
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jana8811mo ago
Try flipping your power stretcher head 180 degrees so the teeth point slightly upward instead of straight down, it grabs the backing without grabbing the pile. I found that trimming the first inch of carpet off at the wall gives you a cleaner anchor point too (less stretch resistance right at the start). The lower angle trick you mentioned works even better if you put a scrap piece of pad under the power stretcher plate to keep it from sinking into the shag and losing tension.
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