Stripping floors more often than necessary burns money and wears the tile. Doing it too rarely lets dirt grind into the finish permanently. Here is the schedule we actually recommend.
The general rule
Most commercial VCT needs a full strip and 4–5 coat re-wax once every 12 to 18 months, with a scrub-and-recoat at the halfway mark.
High-traffic entries, cafeterias, and school corridors run on the short end of that range. Back offices and low-traffic hallways can often stretch to two years.
- Schools & daycares: full strip each summer, recoat at winter break
- Medical & dental: strip annually, recoat every 6 months
- Offices & retail: strip every 12–18 months, recoat every 6–9 months
Strip vs. scrub-and-recoat
A full strip removes every layer of finish down to bare tile, then rebuilds it. A scrub-and-recoat removes only the top worn layer and adds one or two fresh coats.
Recoats cost roughly a third of a strip and buy you months of gloss — which is why a good floor program alternates between the two instead of stripping constantly.
What keeps the shine between services
Walk-off matting at every entrance, consistent dust mopping, and periodic burnishing do more for floor appearance than any premium finish.
Ninety percent of the grit that dulls a floor walks in on shoes. Stop it at the door and your wax lasts noticeably longer.