Services
Floor stripping and waxing
Floor stripping and waxing takes worn, yellowed finish off VCT and other resilient floors and builds fresh, glossy coats in its place, for facility and property managers who want corridors, lobbies and break rooms to look new again. Continental crews do the work overnight and on weekends across Northern California and northern Nevada, so the building opens on a finished floor.
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What a strip and wax involves
A strip and wax is a full reset of a resilient floor: every layer of old finish comes off, the bare tile is cleaned and neutralized, and new coats of floor finish go down and are buffed to a hard shine. The tile itself stays put. What changes is the protective film on top, which is what visitors see and what takes the wear from shoes, carts and grit.
On the night of the job, our crew works through a set sequence:
- Clear the room and dust mop, so loose grit never reaches the machines.
- Apply stripping solution and let it dwell long enough to soften the old layers.
- Machine scrub with a stripping pad, then work edges, corners and toe kicks by hand.
- Pick up the slurry with a wet vacuum and rinse until no residue remains.
- Neutralize the tile so the new finish bonds evenly, then let it dry.
- Lay a sealer coat where the floor calls for one, followed by thin coats of finish, each dry before the next.
- Buff or burnish once the finish has set, and return the furniture.
Thin coats are the point. Several light passes cure harder and clearer than one heavy flood, and they give the floor a deeper gloss that holds up longer under traffic.
Floors that take a strip and wax
Vinyl composition tile is the floor most buildings strip and wax. It is porous without finish, scuffs fast when the film wears through and comes back bright once new coats are down, which makes it the workhorse in corridors, break rooms, classrooms, clinics and back-of-house areas.
Other resilient floors take the same service with the right products. Sheet vinyl and rubber accept a finish program well. Linoleum gets a stripper and neutralizer suited to it, because it is a natural material and reacts badly to harsh chemistry. Luxury vinyl tile and plank is handled by the maker’s care guide: some products are built to take a floor finish, and others carry a factory wear layer meant only for cleaning, so we read the guide before a pad touches the floor.
Marble and terrazzo take a different routine of scrubbing, honing and polishing, and ceramic tile and sealed concrete are machine scrubbed, all run through our wider floor care program, so one building with mixed surfaces still sits on one plan.
Scheduling around your open hours
Stripping and waxing happens when the space is empty. For offices that means weeknights after the cleaning crew finishes or a weekend; for stores, clinics and schools it means after close or during a planned break. The crew arrives with the floor already mapped from the walkthrough, so the night starts with work, not measuring.
Finish needs undisturbed time to dry between coats and to set before traffic returns. We close each work area with signs and barriers, keep doors and corridors routed around it, and sequence the building so tenants always have a clear path to exits, restrooms and elevators. A large floor is split into zones and finished over several nights, with each zone back in service before the morning.
Buildings that never fully close, such as round-the-clock operations, get a phased plan that strips one wing at a time. Our guide to cleaning buildings that never close shows how those windows are set.
How often a floor needs a full strip
Traffic sets the cycle. Entrances, main corridors and break rooms that take grit and rolling carts every day reach the end of their finish soonest and sit on the shortest calendar. Upper-floor corridors and private offices last much longer, and some quiet rooms go years between strips.
Two lighter services stretch that gap. Burnishing polishes the finish that is already down and brings the gloss back between visits. A scrub and recoat cuts away the scuffed top layer and adds fresh coats over a sound base, without the cost and downtime of a full strip. Our comparison of floor stripping vs scrub and recoat walks through the wear signs that point to each one.
Daily habits matter as well. Walk-off mats at every entry and nightly dust mopping by the janitorial crew keep sand from grinding into the finish, and a floor that is looked after between projects goes longer before it needs stripping again.
What floor stripping and waxing costs
Strip and wax is priced by the square foot for each job, usually with a minimum job fee. Across the U.S., as of 2026, ISSA puts commercial hard-floor strip and refinish at $0.30 to $0.60 a square foot. Typical U.S. pricing runs from $0.40 to $1.00, and small rooms or floors buried under years of built-up finish climb as high as $2.50. Minimum job fees commonly start at $250 to $500, which is why a single break room costs more per foot than a long corridor.
| Price band, as of 2026 | Per square foot |
|---|---|
| National commercial band (ISSA) | $0.30 to $0.60 |
| Most U.S. jobs | $0.40 to $1.00 |
| Small or heavily built-up U.S. jobs | Up to $2.50 |
| Our Northern California and Nevada band | $0.41 to $1.00, small or detailed jobs up to $3.00 |
In our own service area, published 2026 pricing puts the usual band at $0.41 to $1.00 a square foot, lower in Nevada and the Central Valley and higher in Bay Area cities, with small, detailed or heavily built-up jobs reaching $3.00. At $0.50 a square foot, 10,000 square feet of open VCT in fair condition comes to about $5,000 per strip.
What your quote is built from
A strip and wax quote starts with the measured square footage of each area and then adjusts for the things that change the labor:
- Condition: how many layers of old finish are down and how yellowed or built up the edges are.
- Layout: open corridors move fast, while small rooms, stairs and tight edges slow the machines.
- Furniture and fixtures the crew moves out and back.
- The number of finish coats and the type of finish chosen for the traffic.
- Work windows: weeknight, weekend or phased night-by-night schedules.
We walk the floors with you, mark each area’s condition and traffic, and send a written quote that lists every area, its process and its price. Continental is insured, bonded and carries workers’ compensation, every client receives a certificate of insurance, and supervisors inspect the finished floor before the area reopens.
Companies with stores or offices elsewhere in the U.S. can book strip-and-wax projects through Continental’s nationwide program: local partner crews follow Continental’s written task list, and Continental handles the schedule, quality checks and one invoice.
A few useful answers
Common questions
How soon can people walk on a freshly waxed floor?
Light foot traffic can return once the final coat is dry, which is why we finish overnight and hand the floor back before opening. Heavy carts, pallet jacks and furniture move back after the finish has had more time to set.
How long does a strip and wax take?
A single suite, corridor or break room fits into one overnight shift. Larger buildings are divided into zones and finished over several nights or a weekend, with each zone ready before people arrive.
Can luxury vinyl tile be stripped and waxed?
Only when the manufacturer’s care guide allows a floor finish on that product. We check the guide during the walkthrough and match the process to it, cleaning and buffing the factory wear layer where finish is not approved.
Do you move the furniture before stripping?
Yes. Our crew moves chairs, tables, bins and light furniture out of the work area and puts everything back once the finish has dried, so the room is ready to use the next morning.
Is a strip and wax worth it if the floor only looks dull?
A dull floor with intact finish often needs only burnishing or a scrub and recoat. We look at the edges, traffic lanes and wear during the walkthrough and recommend the lightest service that brings the floor back.