Rugs, Carpets and Carpeting - How Much do You Stretch Carpet

I have just finished installing wal-to-wall carpeting in a bedroom and I am getting ready to do two more rooms.

I have a question on stretching, how much do I stretch. Do I lift the handle up to get the most stretch or just enough to stretch a few inches????.

Thanks Hank.:confused:

1-1½%

What Perry said.

Really!! So then (for example) on a 10' square room that would be less than 2", right ?.

When I had researched this they said I needed to use Stretcher and Kicker tools. Basically I should kick and attach one side and then on the opposite use the Stretcher. But if it is less than 2" could'nt I just use the Kicker for the whole installation (why would I even need the Strecher on similar sized rooms??).

Appreciate your feedback on this.

Hank

Can I watch you get 2" stretched out of a 10' room?
Can I video tape it, with audio?

1-1½% is recommended. Although, I have run across several carpets that were impossible to get that much stretch out of it and I have had some that stretched more then that. A lot depends on the secondary backing and the amount of latex used to attach that backing.

Trying to stretch with a knee kicker will damage your body, and you will never achieve the amount of stretch as you will with a pole stretcher. Your more likely to rip the carpet with the small kicker head surface area, trying to achieve the proper stretch. Unlike the slower motion and wider head of a pole stretcher.

A knee kicker is just a tool to position the carpet onto the tackstrip pins, before stretching with the pole stretcher in the opposite direction.