2/28/2008
9:56:58 PM 

What's the difference between an installer that knows how to kick and one that doesn't? There m,ay be many ways, what are one of the ways you've noticed?

Yes, I know, everyone is so afraid to say they ever kicked carpet, much less admit they might still kick today. However, I assure you, back in the 70's to the mid eighties, carpet was sucessfully kicked-in and most kicked in, lasted 15 and 20 years.

Yes, today is much different and kicking is all but a lost art, but I assure you, it is one of the best aerobic exercises, strength and endurance training and I don't know why, but kicking carpet that hard and long was fun for me and it helped me to use my body completely, physically, mentally and emotionally.

It's too bad now-a-days most guys think of kicking as hurtful and a sin, but that's what happens in a lot of places.

Truth is, sometimes the mills don't put hardly any fillers in occasional rolls and they are nice to work with and even kick, but shhhhhhh, don't tell any men, it might make them feel good to work so dang hard, that it makes other men cringe.

Anyway, those cases are few and far between and if you really like it, you are very good at it and you're willing to give a 5 year guarantee and stand behind it like I have, then by all means, enjoy. If you can't or won't, that's ok too, just make sure you know how to powerstretch, so you too can give a 5 year guarantee on the install.

So, tell us, what are the good characteristics of a man that kicks and what are the bad? Knowing such can help all to be a better installer, wheather they kick or powerstretch.

There is good and bad in everything and the key to being the best we can be, is knowing the strengths and weaknesses in all our tools, in ourselves, the floor--concrete and wood--yuck terrazzo,---- carpet, wood, tile and everything else and everyone else, we have to deal with.

So, what are the strong points in a man that is good kicker of carpet and a man that is not good at the art?

2/28/2008
10:04:40 PM 

quote:

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It starts with good rhthym and tempo, Jim. The real good ones have made it into an art!

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2/28/2008
10:09:22 PM 

This thread is right up tax man's alley. Is tax man in the house?

2/29/2008
9:19:09 AM 

If a carpet is kickable, you won't have to slam your kicker head down hard, to get the teeth to penetrate. With the natural smooth motion and body position, carpet will stretch nicely, but just a little too much filler and you cannot kick it, unless you are one of the very best. Well, you can, but it's most likely 98% of installers will do it wrong. Then you have carpet that has a lot of fillers and there is no way to kick the carpet, so they have to use the powerstretcher, understanding all they feel, just to have a chance at making it last.

Powerstretchers take several times longer than kicking--but it is in just that' phase, that extra time is needed. However, when in the past I have said that men need to see and feel the carpet, no problem, but when I have told them they need to be able to see--feel AND HEAR all they are doing, some laughed loud and long. What you hear can and will make the difference---if you know what to listen for.

Everything about a man kicking carpet takes timing, body position, the sense of the body riding over the top of the kicker and while the main force should be forward, at the same moment in time, the installers weight must be coming down, so the kicker doesn't tear the face off the carpet and the installers head must turn outward, while the hips roll to the side, with the legs angle of attack not straight on. We wouldn't want to plow the head into the wall, now would we.

It takes really good flexibility, timing, strength and the will to use every ounce of energy, to ensure a lasting job for the customers, the places you work for, your helper and yourself.

Saying all that and what I hear' out here, I think the vast majority of installers need to be taught to test with the kicker, but to use the powerstretcher.

The kicker takes a mental, physical and medical condition that few have, because most all of us are burdened with weaknesses, either tendons in some, arthuritis, bone deficiencies or spurs, muscle problems, ligaments, and more.

I was born with not very much in the way of those forms of weaknesses, but through time, this trade and smoking cigs, has pretty much hammered my lungs. I do wish I could still work just as hard as when I was 48. Oh well, not a bad run. It's a wonderful feeling to be so strong for so long. Now, every moment in time is tentative and every job a marathon--which I am very thankful for.

The kicker truly has much to teach,--just as the floor and all that surrounds us.

2/29/2008
5:51:17 PM 

Back when carpet had no fillers and they used stratght laytex, we could kick a room that bag and make it last, but you didn't try to take the stretch all at once.

Using the roberts method, the first 3 or 4 feet were set and opposite that, we would kick nice and hard. We'd walk away and do something else for awhile and then we'd come back and kick it somewhat harder--feeling how much tension it had and waqlk away again, coming back about 20 minutes later. We'd kick one last time real hard and then go back to set the next 3-4 feet--adjacent to the first 3-4 foot set wall and repeat the same operations.

You do have to be careful about not kicking in the same place 2 times in a row, but taking up that much slack it's not difficult to work it properly.

Then you repeat the same steps all the way thrugh-out the entire stretch and by the time you are finishing-up, the room is very tight.

If ya don't believe it can be done, get the mills to make me some oh 30 oz face weight carpet, with just laytex, and a jute backing, primary and secondary. I'll be more than happy to prove it can be done. Of course I'll have to go quite a bit slower. Since we didn't use powerstretchers back then, unless made too, we did a bit of improvising.

When the retailers would cut the job so close, as to put 8 or 10 pieces down a bedroom or living room wall, just to save the customer 10 bucks and get the job, they didn't seem to care about us at all.

When thery get to be 2, they call them the terrible 2's, so be careful what you wish for.

3/2/2008
8:22:20 AM 

hahahahahaha, in all those years of kicking, I missed a very important fact. Read my post above and see if ya'll can figure out what I could have done differently in the stretch.

There were times a roll came-in a couple of inches short and we had to make it up. Since the carpet was 2 inches short, the carpet wouldn't even reach the tackstrip, so, we would double strio the wall and kick, wait for about 15 minutes and come back and stretch some more. We did that till we reached our goal of 2 inches.

3/2/2008
9:17:59 AM 

quote:

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Buy a power stretcher.

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3/3/2008
8:13:29 AM 

I just love to share when people insinuate I am an idiot or that I'm not smart enough to buy a powerstcher, don'tcha know?

3/3/2008
8:45:19 AM 

Take any single room and set 3 or 4 feet right in the middle of the room. Go to the opposing side--right in the middle and stretch hard for the same 3 or 4 feet. Then go to the center of one of the 90 degree walls and instead of just setting that wall, put a little more of a kick on it and stretch so as to straighten the bow created by the little harder set wall.

That leaves you with 4 equal quadrants, where you can take a stretch so that it ""feels"" the same and not by percentage.

You can also--if you are paying close attention, see the bow you can create and see it when you pull it out.

You will also notice that at the mid sections of each wall, the nails will lock down that potential to stretch, where the center of the areas not held by nails will stretch further, so the closer you come to each end wall, the less you will be stretching the carpet at those points.

Consider the origionally taught, Roberts method of installation, as you do the above type of oriented stretch.

You can tell how good you did, by how straight the rows run in the length, at least, if they were straight to begin with.