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Date: 07/22/2026

Floor Sanders and Finishers

Scrape and sand wooden floors to smooth surfaces using floor scraper and floor sanding machine, and apply coats of finish.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Inspect floors for smoothness.
    • Remove excess glue from joints, using knives, scrapers, or wood chisels.
    • Attach sandpaper to rollers of sanding machines.
    • Guide sanding machines over surfaces of floors until surfaces are smooth.
    • Buff and vacuum floors to ensure their cleanliness prior to the application of finish.
    • Buff and vacuum floors to ensure their cleanliness prior to the application of finish.
    • Apply filler compound and coats of finish to floors to seal wood.
    • Scrape and sand floor edges and areas inaccessible to floor sanders, using scrapers, disk-type sanders, and sandpaper.

    Skills

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    3
    Workplace Documents
    3
    Graphic Literacy
    4

    Abilities

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    Knowledge

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 48000/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 23.08/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 40
    • Yearly Projected Openings 0

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Realistic: People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Attention to Detail
    • Dependability

    Tools

    • Acoustic ear muffs or defenders
    • Claw hammer
    • Cleaning cloths or wipes
    • Drum sander
    • Edgers
    • Edging tools
    • Floor polishers
    • Floor scrapers
    • Floor scrubbers
    • Masks or accessories
    • Paint brushes
    • Paint rollers
    • Personal computers
    • Pneumatic sanding machines
    • Power sanders
    • Power saws
    • Safety glasses
    • Sanding blocks
    • Sanding machines
    • Tablet computers
    • Utility knives
    • Wet or dry combination vacuum cleaners
    • Wood chisels

    Technology

    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Video creation and editing software
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    Workforce Supply Tool

    Workforce Supply Tool

    The Workforce Supply Tool provides statistics for the occupations in highest demand throughout Ohio.

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