Strip and Wax

Strip and wax is the complete reset for a hard floor. A stripping solution dissolves every existing layer of finish, the slurry is removed, the bare tile is neutralized and rinsed, and then fresh coats of finish go down one at a time with drying between each.

Why finish gets stripped rather than added to

Floor finish is not permanent. Foot traffic grinds soil into the top layers, and every scrub and recoat adds thickness. Eventually the stack of coats holds enough embedded dirt and scratching that adding another layer just seals the discoloration in — the floor looks dull no matter how much finish sits on top. At that point the only way back to a clean base is to take it all off.

What it costs you in time

This is the disruptive one. Multiple coats each need drying time, and the floor cannot take traffic until the last coat has cured. In practice it means an overnight, a weekend, or a scheduled closure, which is why it is usually planned well in advance rather than booked reactively.

Strip and wax versus scrub and recoat

Most floors do not need a full strip most of the time. A scrub and recoat removes the top layer or two and puts fresh finish over a still-sound base, at a fraction of the time and cost. The rough test: if the dullness is on the surface, recoat; if the discoloration is down in the layers or the finish is worn through to bare tile in traffic lanes, strip.

Getting that call right is most of the value. Stripping a floor that only needed a recoat wastes money and removes finish that was still doing its job; recoating a floor that needed stripping seals the problem in for another cycle. We would rather look at the floor and tell you which one it is than sell the bigger service by default.