Carpeting Home

DIY carpet fitting?

To stretch the carpet should I buy or hire a knee kicker? I've seen a couple selling for under £30 but i don't know if these are any good. I'm in East London- where can you hire?

Public Comments

1. If the room is larger than 3m x 3m then it should be installed with a power stretcher, not a kicker. A kicker will not stretch the carpet enough and will allow waves to appear in the carpet after a couple months of walking on it. Also if you haven't used a kicker before you wouldn't be able to figure it out without ripping the carpet or kicking the carpet back and forth and back and forth.... If you already have the carpet hiring someone to install it shouldn't cost too much and should only take 2 hours if there aren't any seams or furniture.
2. hello, you only need a kicker if you have underlay & grippers.you can find out a hire shop no. from 118247 yellow pages.or you can save money by just stamping the carpet forward with your feet, as long as it is gripped on the other end!
3. if you bought the carpet at a carpet shop they should have a free fitting service
4. How many carpets are you going to lay in the future? If the answer is lots then buy a knee kicker, if the answer is none then just hire one. You may find that the cost of hiring one is such that you may as well buy one anyway, you can always sell it in.
5. it really depends on how many carpets you'd like to stretch either now or in the future? if it's many..then I would advise buying one, they are easy to find on Ebay UK..just search for knee kicker or carpet stretcher..ones finished you could always sell it on again, or if you want to make a little cash, why not advertise it as 'for hire' to friends, neighbours and work colleagues? just a thought..