SIC 1752 Floor Laying and Other Floor Work, Not Elsewhere Classified

Contenidos

• NAICS CODE(S).
• FURTHER READING.

SIC 1752

This category includes special trade contractors primarily engaged in the installation of asphalt tile, carpeting, linoleum, and resilient flooring. The industry also includes special trade contractors engaged in laying, scraping, and finishing parquet and other hardwood flooring. Establishments primarily engaged in installing stone and ceramic floor tile are classified in the Masonry, Stonework, Tile Setting, and Plastering industries; those installing or finishing concrete floors are classified in SIC 1771: Concrete Work; and those installing artificial turf are classified in SIC 1799: Special Trade Contractors, Not Elsewhere Classified.

NAICS CODE(S)

235520

Floor Laying and Other Floor Contractors

The U.S. floor-laying industry is characterized by a large number of special trade contractors who perform work for a general contractor or an architect. According to the latest figures available from the U.S. Census Bureau, roughly 12,000 of these establishments operate in the United States. Carpet installers may also install other types of flooring, such as tile and/or vinyl and linoleum.

Much of the floor-laying industry works in the residential repair and remodeling (R&R) market. Renovation and repair had increased dramatically in the mid-1990s, reaching an all-time high of $69.5 billion in total revenue in 1995. New installations, however, were the key to industry growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Fueled by lower interest rates, the residential construction industry continued to boom well into the early 2000s, despite a weak economy. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), new housing starts reached a 25-year high of more than 1.8 million in 2003.

The health of the floor-laying industry is closely tied to that of the housing and construction industry; when housing starts increase, as they did in the early 2000s, floor layers see increased work. The rate of employment for carpet layers, however, generally remains stable, since so much of their work involves the replacement of carpet. By 2002, carpet, flooring, and tile installers numbered 164,000. Approximately 82,000 of those workers were employed in carpet installation, compared to 50,000 in the mid-1990s, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Floor layers, except for carpet, wood, and hard tiles, accounted for 31,000 workers in 2002, while floor sanders and finishers numbered 17,000. While some...