MA The Maintenance Academy Maintenance 215 · Black Boots Initiative · shared with Foundational Fundamentals

Flooring

Floor Care Technician

5 weeks · 11 lessons · 5 section tests · 5 written questions · final exam · 11 hands-on skills

Floor care is steady work: offices, schools, stores, medical buildings and apartment buildings all need clean, safe floors. This course takes you from identifying a floor to stripping and refinishing it, plus carpet care and estimating jobs, and it's reviewed by experienced floor care professionals.

What you will be able to do

  • Identify floor types and choose safe chemistry; calculate dilutions; work safely with chemicals.
  • Use auto scrubbers, swing machines, burnishers and extractors, and choose the right pad.
  • Run daily, periodic and restorative care for resilient, stone, tile, concrete and wood floors.
  • Strip and refinish VCT properly, burnish safely, and keep floors slip-resistant.
  • Clean carpet with hot-water extraction and remove common spots.
  • Measure, estimate and price floor care work, and run it as a business.

How the course works

Lessons and check questions online, a test at the end of each section, and a final exam drawn from every section (80% to pass). Hands-on skills are signed off by an Academy instructor with a machine in your hands, arranged through Maintenance 215 and the Black Boots Initiative, and listed on your certificate.

Always follow the label

Chemical dilutions, dwell times and finish coats vary by product. The product label, the floor manufacturer's instructions and your instructor come first. This course does not issue IICRC or ISSA credentials.

Course outline

  1. Week 1

    Floor Types and Cleaning Chemistry

    Identifying floors, pH and dilution, and chemical safety.

    1. Identifying floor types Video 30 min
    2. Cleaning chemistry and dilution Video 35 min
    3. Chemical safety and the SDS Video 25 min
    4. Section test (7 questions)
    5. Written answers (1 question)
  2. Week 2

    Equipment and Daily Care

    Floor machines, pads and tools; daily and periodic care; and stone, tile, concrete and wood floors.

    1. Floor care equipment Video 35 min
    2. Daily and periodic floor care Video 30 min
    3. Stone, tile, concrete and wood floors Video 30 min
    4. Section test (6 questions)
    5. Written answers (1 question)
  3. Week 3

    Stripping and Refinishing Resilient Floors

    Strip and refinish step by step; burnishing and slip safety.

    1. Strip and refinish, step by step Video 45 min
    2. Burnishing and slip safety Video 30 min
    3. Section test (7 questions)
    4. Written answers (1 question)
  4. Week 4

    Carpet Care

    Carpet maintenance and extraction, and spotting and stain removal.

    1. Carpet maintenance and extraction Video 35 min
    2. Carpet spotting and stain removal Video 30 min
    3. Section test (5 questions)
    4. Written answers (1 question)
  5. Week 5

    Working as a Floor Care Professional

    Customer service, estimating and growing a floor care business.

    1. Customer service, estimating and growing your business Video 40 min
    2. Section test (4 questions)
    3. Written answers (1 question)

  6. Final exam

    40 questions from every section, 80% to pass.

    1. Final exam

Hands-on skills

Show these to a Maintenance Academy instructor on a job site or in the shop. Each one they sign off appears on your certificate as a verified skill.

    1. Identify floor types and choose chemicals
      Identifies VCT, LVT, stone, tile, wood and carpet samples and names the safe chemistry and the chemicals to avoid for each.
    2. Mix a chemical at the correct dilution
      Calculates ounces per gallon from a ratio, measures accurately, adds chemical to water, labels the container, and wears the PPE on the SDS.
    3. Dust mop and damp mop correctly
      Uses overlapping dust-mop strokes and a figure-8 damp mop with neutral cleaner, working out of the room, with signs posted.
    4. Operate an auto scrubber
      Fills and doses correctly, scrubs with overlapping passes and good pickup, and empties, rinses and cleans the machine and squeegee afterward.
    5. Operate a swing machine
      Starts it safely and controls the side-to-side swing with the handle, without letting it run away, for scrubbing.
    6. Strip a resilient floor
      Preps and posts the area, applies stripper and keeps it wet through dwell, scrubs, picks up slurry, rinses twice, and passes the white-towel residue check.
    7. Apply floor finish
      Applies thin, even coats with a clean finish mop, cuts in edges, waits for dry between coats, and lays 4 or more coats with no puddles, streaks or missed spots.
    8. Burnish a floor safely
      Prepares the floor, uses the correct pad, burnishes in straight overlapping passes without stopping, and (for propane) follows ventilation and tank rules.
    9. Extract a carpet
      Pre-inspects, pre-vacuums, pre-sprays, agitates, extracts with good water recovery, grooms, and sets air movers.
    10. Remove common carpet spots
      Identifies the spot type, pre-tests, uses the right spotter, blots from the outside in, rinses and dries.
    11. Measure and estimate a job
      Measures an area, calculates materials and labor from given production rates, and writes a clear scope and price.