# Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles

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

- **SOC code:** 47-2042.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-2042-00
- **Also known as:** Floor Covering Contractor, Floor Coverings Installer, Flooring Installer, Vinyl Installer, Floor Layer, Flooring Mechanic, Tile Installer, Tile Setter
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering.
- Cut flooring material to fit around obstructions.
- Inspect surface to be covered to ensure that it is firm and dry.
- Trim excess covering materials, tack edges, and join sections of covering material to form tight joint.
- 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.
- Measure and mark guidelines on surfaces or foundations, using chalk lines and dividers.
- Cut covering and foundation materials, according to blueprints and sketches.
- Roll and press sheet wall and floor covering into cement base to smooth and finish surface, using hand roller.
- Apply adhesive cement to floor or wall material to join and adhere foundation material.
- Determine traffic areas and decide location of seams.
- 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.
- Remove excess cement to clean finished surface.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Building and Construction _(knowledge)_
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Mathematics _(knowledge)_
- Extent Flexibility _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Mechanical _(knowledge)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- Production and Processing _(knowledge)_
- Oral Expression _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Manual Dexterity _(ability)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Finger Dexterity _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Facebook _(Specialized Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Visualization _(Specialized Skill)_
- Time Management _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_
- Social Perceptiveness _(Common Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Facebook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology)_
- 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

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 3rd percentile (Low) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 8th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 3rd percentile (Low) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 6th percentile (Low) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 64th percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** 9.5% growth (Growing fast); 2.7k annual openings; 33.7k → 36.9k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $54,340; 24,850 employed.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

---
_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-47-2042-00_