Update: saw a carpet crew at the Dayton mall use a power stretcher on a 40 oz berber and now I want one
Stopped by the Dayton Mall on Saturday to grab boots and walked past the empty anchor store where a crew was pulling up old glue-down and laying new carpet. The lead guy had a power stretcher with a tail block and he was pulling a 40 oz berber tight as a drum, no wrinkles, no buckles at the seams. I've been doing knee kicker plus a little stretcher for 12 years and my seams always show a slight ripple after a year on that thick stuff. He said he runs the stretcher every 3 feet and uses a 6 inch overlap, then trims. I asked what he does on stairs and he just laughed and said knee kicker and a stair tool, nothing fancy. Any of you all use a power stretcher on berber, or is that overkill for residential jobs?