Carpet fitter and floor layer

Carpet fitters and floor layers fit carpets and vinyl tiles, and lay laminate and timber floors in homes and businesses.

Also known as: Flooring fitter

• Starter salary£20,000 a year
• Experienced£36,000 a year
• Typical hours40 to 47 a week

What you'll do

As a carpet fitter or floor layer, you could:

• work in people's homes, businesses and on new housebuilding sites
• measure floor space to be covered and estimate the materials needed
• remove old flooring and prepare the work area
• fit underlay, carpets, tiles, vinyl or wooden flooring
• spray floor coverings with protective coatings
• put furniture back and trim and re-hang doors if removed
• follow safety guidelines when working with glues, solvents and other chemicals

Working environment

You could work at a client's home, at a client's business or on a construction site.

Your working environment may be physically demanding.

You may need to wear protective clothing.

Skills and knowledge you'll need

You'll need:

• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to work well with others
• the ability to work well with your hands
• customer service skills
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• the ability to use your initiative
• the ability to work on your own
• knowledge of maths
• to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

How to become a carpet fitter and floor layer

You can get into this job through:

• an apprenticeship
• applying directly
• training with a professional body

Apprenticeship

You can apply to do an apprenticeship, such as:

• Finishing Trades Level 2 Foundation Apprenticeship
• Floorlayer Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship

Direct application

You could apply directly to work as a carpet fitter and floor layer.

Employers will expect you to:

• have practical skills
• be good with numbers for making measurements and working out quantities
• have good customer service skills, especially for working in people's homes

Other routes

You could take a training course through a professional industry body like the Flooring Industry Training Association or the Contract Flooring Association .

This may help you to find work as a trainee with a carpet fitting and floor laying company.

Foundation apprenticeship

You can apply for a foundation apprenticeship if you're aged 16 to 21.

If you're aged 22 to 24, you can apply if you:

• have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
• are in care or have been in care
• are in prison or have been in prison

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• no specific qualifications or experience to apply for a foundation apprenticeship
• some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

Restrictions and requirements

You may need a driving licence for some jobs.

Career path and progression

With experience, you could become a flooring team supervisor, estimator or contracts manager.

You could move into related areas like training, buying or product sales.

You could also set up your own business, laying carpets and installing floors in domestic and commercial properties.

Career tips

You may need to travel to other parts of the country for some jobs, especially on commercial and industrial contracts.

Guides for this industry

• Construction & Trades: pay, interviews and getting started →

Related roles

• Job roleKitchen and bathroom fitter
• Job roleEstimator
• Job roleTiler
• Job roleCarpenter
• Job roleConstruction site supervisor

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