About the Owner

I started working in the janitorial industry for my father when I was 11 years of age; stripping and waxing floors with him at Parkway Lanes Bowling Alley until the age of 22. Like any kid, my work performance was all about getting the approval of my father.

Later in my life I worked for a company to generate some extra income; I would strip, wax and buff tile floors in three office buildings. This is the company that introduced me to bonnet-cleaning carpet. Some floors would have 50 to 100 employees on them—spots in the carpet were plentiful. With time and patience I learned to get spots out of the carpet, my first “great” accomplishment was removing toner stains.

Another benefit to working at these buildings five days a week is I got to see what worked and what did not work on the stained carpets or tiles and grout. In 1992, a friend of mine named Charles Paul, had a friend that had hired someone else to strip and wax a floor. When it was finished, the customer was not pleased with the job. So, Charles told them that I could do floors.

I went in and did the floors the way my father had taught me; they offered me a job the same weekend. I started working by the hour getting paid every two weeks, and then it went to getting paid every month, to getting a percentage of the job, to sub-contractor—leasing the equipment and van.

After four years, they made an offer to sell me the van and the equipment, and this is when Thomas Orr Floors was born.

Thomas