How Much Does Commercial Floor Stripping and Waxing Cost?

What a full strip and refinish involves

The price reflects a long sequence of steps, and drying time between coats is the real bottleneck. A crew of two or three can spend a whole night on an area that takes minutes to vacuum. The usual order of work is below; skipping a step, especially the rinse, is the most common reason a new finish fails early.

• Move furniture and protect walls, baseboards and carpet edges
• Dust mop and apply stripper, letting it dwell as the label directs
• Scrub with a low-speed machine and stripping pads, then hand-strip the edges
• Pick up the slurry with a wet vacuum and rinse, usually twice
• Let the floor dry fully, then apply sealer if specified
• Apply several thin coats of finish, with drying time between each
• Return furniture and let the finish cure before any burnishing

What drives floor stripping and waxing cost?

Area is the obvious starting point, but layout and condition often matter more. Corridors and open rooms let a machine run in long passes, while small offices, exam rooms and classrooms full of furniture are mostly edge work. A floor with years of built-up or yellowed finish may need two strip passes.

Strip and wax, scrub and recoat, or burnish?

The cheapest full strip is the one you postpone with good maintenance. A scrub and recoat removes the scuffed top layers and adds fresh coats without going down to bare tile, and regular burnishing restores gloss between visits. Together they can stretch the interval between full strips considerably, which is where most of the savings in a floor program come from. Interval planning by traffic level is covered in a separate answer on VCT cycles.

VCT strip and wax cost compared with other floors

Vinyl composition tile is the floor strip-and-wax programs were built for, and it is the easiest to price. Sheet vinyl is similar but needs care at seams. Many luxury vinyl tile and plank products are not meant to be stripped and waxed at all; their manufacturers specify a factory wear layer and gentler maintenance, so check the product guide before buying the service. Terrazzo, stone and concrete use different chemistry, such as sealers or polishing, and are quoted differently.

Older buildings need one more check. Federal and Cal/OSHA asbestos rules treat asphalt and vinyl flooring installed in 1980 or earlier as asbestos-containing unless testing shows otherwise, and Title 8 section 5208 restricts how such floors may be maintained: no sanding, wet stripping with low-abrasion pads at low machine speed, and burnishing only where enough finish protects the tile. Testing and method limits can change both the price and the schedule.

What to write into a strip and wax work order

Most disputes after a floor job come from what was assumed rather than what was written down. A one-page work order that covers these points keeps every bid comparable and gives you something specific to inspect against when the crew finishes.

• Square footage by room, floor type and approximate age
• Number of sealer and finish coats
• Who moves furniture and who resets it
• Access window and the dry time needed before re-entry
• Protection for walls, baseboards and adjoining carpet
• How stripper slurry is disposed of (never into a storm drain)
• Burnishing or recoat schedule after the finish cures

How EBS handles periodic floor refinishing

Floor care at EBS runs on its own calendar, separate from nightly cleaning: vinyl and tile are stripped and waxed or burnished, carpets are extracted, and cycles are set quarterly, semi-annually or annually. Work is booked for evenings, overnight or weekends so the finish has time to dry before the building reopens. During the walkthrough a supervisor notes floor type, condition and furniture, and the proposal sets out the area and the method.