Scott, I was on the "anti-spike" movement, but I think your blog has persuaded to me give the spike a try. I would like to hear any other pro's opinion on this!

A spike is not the tool of a professional. If you are professional then you should refer to cri 104 and 105. bottom line... it damages the carpet and the subfloor. If you wouldn't use it on a $300/yard piece of carpet in a 12 million dollar home.... then don't use it anywhere. I can stretch a house with tubes just as fast as you can with a spike. the use of a spike is only being lazy and not caring about the customers property, which they spent their hard earned money on.

Tony,

I think you have some really good points, but I also agree with many of Scott's points about when it is more convenient to use a spike over tubes especially in mobile homes and on stairs. I use a combination of both depending on the job.

I wrote this blog because this is such a controversial issue. Tony is absolutely right about the standards set forth by CRI. Unfortunately the cold hard reality is that spikes are more effective than pipes in some situations. It's not just a matter of speed and productivity, but of quality. The spike I use has two small points that are about 3/8 of an inch in diameter. They do very little damage to the subfloor or carpet. I refused to even try a spike until I found this one.

Here are a couple of "for instances" for those who still refuse to try a spike: How do you stretch across a 10 ft. wide by 20 ft. long cat-walk with an exotic wood railing on both sides? How about an octagonal sun room with floor to ceiling windows with metal framing? A 12 x 22 breezeway with sliding glass doors down both sides? The list goes-on... I've got great insurance, but I don't want to use it unless I have to.

Thanks for the comments guys. I look forward to more good discussions.

Scott

I agree with Scott, spiking is better in some situations

I use the spike (on the right carpet) whenever it doesn't make sense to set up the poles for certain stretches but never (rarely) to do a whole house or room. I mailnly use it to put a stretch in certain areas when laying out large shots that drop through halls or into other rooms prior to seaming.

I just bought one for a large room surrounded by hardwood and no walls. I'll let you know what I think in a couple weeks.

Ok, spike came in handy but had some problems. Spike penetrated the new OSB floor like butter. Went completely through it. The result was that under tension the power head would lift up at the angle of the spike (maybe 40 degrees) unless you held it down with one hand and set carpet on pins with the other. Not for daily use but worth keeping in the tool box for those odd occasions when stretch wall is unavailable.