Unpopular opinion: Old hand tools beat the new power stretchers for hallways

I been doing this for 18 years now, and last month I had a long narrow hallway job in a house over in Arlington. I brought out my new power stretcher thinking it would save time like always, but after fighting with it for 20 minutes trying to get the grip right on that tight turn, I just grabbed my old knee kicker and hand tools. Got the whole hallway done in half the time with way less frustration. Something about those old tools just feels right for skinny spaces where you gotta work slow and careful. The power stuff is great for big open rooms, but for halls and closets I think I'm sticking with the old way. Anyone else have a job that made you switch back to the basics?

2 comments

2 Comments

gracecarr20d ago

Respectfully, that's a manual stretcher not a knee kicker you're describing.

wesley_hart15d ago

Ha! Well that's like telling a mechanic they're holding a wrench wrong when the bolt's already turning. I guess I've been calling it a knee kicker for 18 years and my hallway floors still come out flat so maybe the names don't matter as much as the results. But sure, next time I'll make sure to call it my "manual stretcher" while I'm crawling around in a closet with it.