How Often Should You Strip and Wax VCT Floors?

Three cycles, three different jobs

A VCT program is not one task repeated. Burnishing polishes the top of the existing finish. Scrub-and-recoat removes the worn top layers and adds fresh coats without going down to bare tile. A full strip removes every layer of finish and rebuilds from the tile up. Each step down the list costs more labor and downtime, so the goal is to let the lighter cycles do most of the work.

How often strip and wax VCT work is needed, by traffic level

Use these ranges as starting points, then adjust after watching how the finish wears through a season. Traffic includes wheels as well as feet: carts, pallet jacks and wheelchairs wear finish faster than footsteps.

What stretches the time between strips

Grit is the main enemy of floor finish, and most of it walks in from outside. Inland sites with dusty parking lots and landscaping see more of it than buildings with covered entries. Walk-off matting long enough to catch several steps, kept clean itself, protects every floor beyond it.

Daily care matters as much as the periodic cycles. Dust mopping removes the abrasive before it is ground in. A neutral-pH cleaner protects the finish, while high-pH or ammonia cleaners soften and dull it. Pads should match the finish and the machine speed, and felt glides on furniture prevent scratches. Recoating worn traffic lanes promptly keeps damage from reaching the tile.

Signs a floor needs a full strip, not another recoat

Recoating cannot go on indefinitely. Finish builds up along walls and under furniture, where traffic never wears it, and eventually the floor needs to be taken back to the tile. Look for these signs.

• Yellow or dark film along edges, corners and under desks
• Finish worn through to bare tile in the walking lanes
• Black marks or soil embedded in the finish that scrubbing will not lift
• Powdering, flaking or peeling finish
• Patchy gloss that burnishing no longer evens out
• Scrub-and-recoat that looks good for days rather than months

Scheduling a strip around the building

A full strip takes the area out of service while stripper dwells, the floor is rinsed and neutralized, and each coat of finish dries. Plan it for weekends, holidays or school breaks, move furniture in advance and close the area until the finish can take traffic. Most refinishing builds several coats, often four or more, with a sealer on porous or older tile where the manufacturer recommends one. Burnishing waits until the finish has cured according to its label.

Before stripping older 9-inch tile, find out whether it may contain asbestos. Aggressive stripping of asbestos-containing flooring is a regulated activity, and the question needs an answer before the machines arrive.

Floor care cycles in an EBS program

EBS schedules hard-floor work on its own calendar, quarterly, semi-annual or annual depending on traffic, so stripping and refinishing never crowd out the nightly clean. High-speed burnishing restores the shine between full refinishes, and evening, overnight and weekend schedules keep the work out of occupied hours. The cycle for each area is set at the walkthrough and adjusted as the finish shows how it wears.