The $60 stretch out that took twice as long in an old house

I was doing a hallway in a 1920s row house in Philly, 30 foot run with doorways on both ends. My power stretcher kept slipping on the hardwood under the pad, so I fought it for 45 minutes. Then the homeowner offered me a hunk of old rubber stair tread to anchor the teeth in. Worked perfect, first try, and I finished the whole hallway in half the time. Now I carry a 6 inch scrap of rubber tread in my van to any remodel with sketchy floors. Has anyone else found a weird homemade anchor that saves their back on tricky installs?

1 comments

1 Comment

taraanderson20d ago

Did the rubber tread leave any marks on the floor underneath, or did it grip clean with no damage? I’ve had power stretchers chew up soft pine before and that’s a nightmare to explain to a homeowner. Also, how thick was that scrap you used, because I tried a similar trick with an old floor mat once and it just folded up under the teeth. Curious if there’s a magic thickness that actually holds without slipping.