Occupation

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles

Human Advantage 62%

Significant human skills needed

AI Automation Risk Moderate Risk
3.2 / 10

Some tasks in this role may be augmented by AI, but human oversight and interpersonal skills remain important.

Apply blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing, sound-deadening, or decorative coverings to floors.

Also Known As: Asphalt Tile Floor Layer, Commercial Installer, Composition Floor Layer, Composition Floor Setter, Composition Tile Layer, Cork Floor Installer, Epoxy Installer, Floor Cover Layer +35 more

Video

Core Tasks

  1. Sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering.
  2. Cut flooring material to fit around obstructions.
  3. Inspect surface to be covered to ensure that it is firm and dry.
  4. Trim excess covering materials, tack edges, and join sections of covering material to form tight joint.
  5. Form a smooth foundation by stapling plywood or Masonite over the floor or by brushing waterproof compound onto surface and filling cracks with plaster, putty, or grout to seal pores.
  6. Measure and mark guidelines on surfaces or foundations, using chalk lines and dividers.
  7. Cut covering and foundation materials, according to blueprints and sketches.
  8. Roll and press sheet wall and floor covering into cement base to smooth and finish surface, using hand roller.
  9. Apply adhesive cement to floor or wall material to join and adhere foundation material.
  10. Determine traffic areas and decide location of seams.
  11. Lay out, position, and apply shock-absorbing, sound-deadening, or decorative coverings to floors, walls, and cabinets, following guidelines to keep courses straight and create designs.
  12. Remove excess cement to clean finished surface.
  13. Disconnect and remove appliances, light fixtures, and worn floor and wall covering from floors, walls, and cabinets.

Supplemental Tasks (1)

  1. Heat and soften floor covering materials to patch cracks or fit floor coverings around irregular surfaces, using blowtorch.

Education & Training

Job Zone 2 Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Education: These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Experience: Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
On-the-Job Training: Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Education Level Distribution

Percentage of workers in this occupation with each education level.

High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)
90%
Less than a High School Diploma
6%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)
4%
Some College Courses
0%

Technology & Tools

Hot Technologies

  • Facebook
  • Microsoft Office software

Software (13)

  • Aya Associates Comp-U-Floor
  • CPR Software FloorCOST Estimator for Excel
  • Flooring Technologies QFloors
  • Focus Floor Covering Software
  • Measure Square FloorEstimate Pro
  • On Center On-Screen Takeoff
  • Pacific Solutions FloorRight
  • Project visualization software
  • Radio frequency identification RFID software
  • Textile Management Systems RollMaster
  • Web browser software

Tools & Equipment (81)

  • Adhesive spreaders
  • Adhesive syringes
  • Adjustable wedges
  • Appliance sliders
  • Automatic plasma arc welding machines
  • Aviation snips
  • Bar scribers
  • Base molding lifters
  • Broad knives
  • Bubble levels
  • Butane torches
  • Chalk line markers
  • Claw clamps
  • Claw hammers
  • Concrete floats
  • Concrete floor grinders
  • Corner templates
  • Cove base shears
  • Dolphin knives
  • Electric glue guns
  • Floor caulking guns
  • Floor polishing machines
  • Floor sanders
  • Floor stripping machines
  • Flooring edge cutters
  • Flooring knee pads
  • Flooring screw guns
  • Flooring staplers
  • Flooring utility knives
  • Gauge rakes
  • Grinding stones
  • Grooving tools
  • Grout floats
  • Grout sponges
  • Guillotine shears
  • Hacksaws
  • Hammer tackers
  • Hand groovers
  • Hand rollers
  • Handheld distance meters
  • Heat welding nozzles
  • Hot air guns
  • Humidity measurement equipment
  • Laminate files
  • Laminate shears
  • Laser squares
  • Layout squares
  • Linoleum dollies
  • Linoleum knives
  • Linoleum rollers
  • Material carts
  • Material dollies
  • Measuring tapes
  • Moving straps
  • Nail driving bars
  • Notched trowels
  • Personal computers
  • Pinch bars
  • Pneumatic coil nailers
  • Power groovers
  • Power mixers
  • Protective safety glasses
  • Pull bars
  • Pull saws
  • Quarter moon knives
  • Razor floor scrapers
  • Rubber mallets
  • Scoring knives
  • Scratch awls
  • Screeds
  • Skiving knives
  • Staple removers
  • Steel straightedges
  • Strap clamps
  • Tapping blocks
  • Tile cutters
  • Undercut saws
  • Underlayment staplers
  • Vinyl scribers
  • Vinyl tile cutters
  • Wall spacers

Where This Career Leads

Career progression organized by specialty track and experience level.

Skilled Trades Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 2
Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles You are here

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