How to hire floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles

Job description template

Copy it, fill in the brackets, and remove anything that does not fit your job. Keep only must-haves you would really turn someone away for.

[Job title] at [Company name]
[City, State] · [Full-time / Part-time] · [Pay range]

About the role
[Two or three sentences about your team, the work and why it matters.]

What you will do
• Cut covering and foundation materials, according to blueprints and sketches.
• Cut flooring material to fit around obstructions.
• Inspect surface to be covered to ensure that it is firm and dry.
• 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.
• Measure and mark guidelines on surfaces or foundations, using chalk lines and dividers.
• Roll and press sheet wall and floor covering into cement base to smooth and finish surface, using hand roller.
• Sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering.
• Trim excess covering materials, tack edges, and join sections of covering material to form tight joint.

What you bring
• [Required license, certification or years of experience, if any]
• [Education, only if you truly need it. Typical to start in this job: No formal educational credential]
• Strong active listening and speaking skills
• Working knowledge of building and construction, customer and personal service and mathematics
• [Anything else you would really turn someone away for]

Pay and benefits
[Pay range]. For reference, the U.S. median for this job is $27.15 an hour ($56,460 a year).
[Benefits, schedule and anything else candidates should know.]

How to apply
[Apply on JAI Bot. Every applicant hears back.]

Copy the template Check your finished job post

Interview questions for floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles

Ask every candidate the same questions, in the same order, and write down what they say. Questions about past work show what someone has actually done.

1. Tell me about a time you had to cut covering and foundation materials, according to blueprints and sketches. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
2. Tell me about a time you had to cut flooring material to fit around obstructions. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
3. Tell me about a time you had to inspect surface to be covered to ensure that it is firm and dry. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
4. Tell me about a time you had to 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. What did you do, and how did it turn out?
5. Tell me about a time you had to understand a request or problem that was explained poorly. How did you make sure you got it right?
6. Explain something technical from your last job as you would to a new coworker.
7. Why this job, and why now? What would make you stay here for the long term?

Good answers name a real situation, what the person did themselves and what happened. Avoid questions about age, family plans, religion, health, national origin or anything else unrelated to the job.

What floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles do

• Cut covering and foundation materials, according to blueprints and sketches.
• Cut flooring material to fit around obstructions.
• Inspect surface to be covered to ensure that it is firm and dry.
• 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.
• Measure and mark guidelines on surfaces or foundations, using chalk lines and dividers.
• Roll and press sheet wall and floor covering into cement base to smooth and finish surface, using hand roller.
• Sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering.
• Trim excess covering materials, tack edges, and join sections of covering material to form tight joint.

Skills that matter most

Active ListeningSpeakingBuilding and ConstructionCustomer and Personal ServiceMathematics

Education, experience and outlook for floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles

• Typical education to start: No formal educational credential (BLS)
• Related work experience most have: None (O*NET)
• Training on the job: Moderate-term on-the-job training (BLS)
• Job outlook: +9% over ten years, much faster than average · about 2,200 openings a year (BLS)

What to pay floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles

Pay depends a lot on where the job is. Highest and lowest median yearly pay by state:

See floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles pay in every state

Related hiring guides

• Tile and Stone Setters
• Carpet Installers
• Insulation Workers, Floor, Ceiling, and Wall
• Floor Sanders and Finishers
• Terrazzo Workers and Finishers
• Drywall and Ceiling Tile Installers
• Brickmasons and Blockmasons
• Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters
• Insulation Workers, Mechanical
• Cement Masons and Concrete Finishers

Job duties and skills: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license; O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. JAI Bot has modified this information; USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. Pay: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025. Interview questions and the job description template: JAI Bot, based on the duties and skills above.