That time I said power stretchers were overrated and got roasted

Last month at a job in Phoenix, I told a crew I'd been using knee kickers for 15 years and never saw the need for a power stretcher. One of the older guys, a 30-year vet, challenged me to try his on a tricky hallway with heavy commercial carpet. After seeing how flat and wrinkle-free it laid down, I had to admit I was wrong. Has anyone else switched tools late in their career and felt silly for waiting so long?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaretramirez1mo ago

My buddy Mike out in Tucson was the same way with nail guns. He'd been hand nailing baseboards for like 20 years and swore it gave him better control. Then he was helping me trim out a living room last summer and I handed him my 18 gauge. He fought it for about ten minutes then finished the whole room in an hour. He had to take me out for a beer that night to admit I was right, but he still keeps a hammer in his truck out of habit.

emery2901mo ago

That part about the guy still keeping a hammer in his truck out of habit really hit home for me. I had a similar thing happen with caulking guns. I used those cheap little $5 squeeze tubes for years because I thought the rat-rod style guns were just overkill. Then my neighbor let me borrow his dripless one with the automatic plunger to do a whole kitchen backsplash and I couldn't believe how much smoother the bead came out. Now I keep one of the old squeeze tubes in the bottom of my tool bucket just in case, but I pretty much only grab the good one.

amy_west1mo ago

And the thing is, once you use a better tool you can't really go back to the old way even if you want to. My dad was the exact opposite with paint brushes. He had this whole collection of high-end Purdy brushes that cost like 20 bucks each and he'd wash them out perfectly after every use. I always thought he was being ridiculous because you can just throw away a cheap foam brush for a dollar. But then I helped him paint his garage last fall and using one of his good brushes was like night and day. Now I get annoyed whenever I use a cheap brush and it leaves those stupid little fuzzies in the paint. I still grab a dollar foam brush from the hardware store if I'm painting something quick but I keep one of his old Purdys in my truck out of habit too.