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Recoat the finish or strip to bare tile? A VCT floor guide for Gilroy buildings
Your vinyl tile has lost its shine, but does it need the old finish taken off to the tile? This guide compares a top-layer recoat with taking the floor back to bare tile, and shows what to look for before you book either.
How often should a Gilroy business strip and wax its floors?
Strip and wax a VCT floor when recoats stop bringing the shine back: the finish has worn to the tile in the walkways, it has yellowed, or dirt is trapped between the coats. Busy entries, corridors and sales floors reach that point first and quiet offices last, and a scrub and recoat between strips pushes each one further out.
We set that cycle area by area on the walkthrough and adjust it once the wear pattern shows, so floor care runs alongside your recurring janitorial services in Gilroy without closing the building during business hours.
Two ways to renew a worn finish
On VCT and other resilient tile, the shine comes from a built-up coating of floor finish, which most people simply call wax. Every shoe, cart wheel and chair leg wears that coating down a little, and the tile underneath stays fine as long as enough finish remains on top. Sooner or later the coating itself needs renewing.
There are two ways to do it. A scrub and recoat takes off only the worn top layers and builds new ones over what is left. Stripping goes further: every coat comes off until the bare tile shows, and the finish is rebuilt from nothing. Both are part of our Gilroy commercial floor care, and choosing between them comes down to how deep the wear goes.
The two methods compared
The chart below lines up the practical differences a building manager feels: what the crew does to the floor, how long the room is out of action, and where each job sits in a yearly plan.
| How they differ | Scrub and recoat | Strip and refinish |
|---|---|---|
| Old finish | Top layers scrubbed away; the base layers stay down | Removed completely, back to bare tile |
| The work itself | Machine scrub, rinse, then fresh coats over the base | Stripper, scrub and rinse, then several new coats |
| Right for | Dull, scuffed finish that is still whole underneath | Finish worn to the tile, yellowed or built up dark |
| Room prep | Traffic lanes and open floor cleared | Room emptied edge to edge, mats and stands out |
| Back in use | Light foot traffic within a few hours | Best left closed to cure overnight |
| When to plan it | Several times between strips, sooner in busy areas | On a planned cycle, with recoats between |
Put simply, a recoat is the routine refresh, and a strip is the full reset you plan for when recoating can no longer hide the wear.
Reading the floor before you book
Walk the floor in daylight and look at the walkways, the corners and the area just inside each door. What you find there usually tells you which job is due.
- Dull but even across the room, with no bare patches: burnishing alone may bring the shine back.
- Scuffs and scratches in the walkways that a buff no longer removes: a scrub and recoat is the next step.
- Thin spots in the walkways while the rest of the finish is whole: book a scrub and recoat before the wear reaches the tile.
- Yellowing, dark buildup along the baseboards, or dirt trapped between coats: the layers need to come off in a full strip.
- Several recoats since the last strip, and the gloss fades faster after each one: the floor is ready for a reset.
If you are unsure, describe what you see when you ask for a quote. We look at the material, the finish already on it and the wear in the traffic lanes on the walkthrough.
Why recoats push the next strip further out
A strip is the heavier job. It needs the room empty, takes more hours, and keeps people off the floor until the new coats cure. Recoating in between protects that investment: each scrub and recoat clears away the scuffed surface before the damage reaches the base layers, so the floor keeps its look for many more months before stripping is due again.
The limit comes when coat sits on coat for too long. Grime gets locked in along the edges, the color shifts, and fresh finish no longer bonds cleanly. At that point another recoat only adds to the problem, and a full strip brings the floor back to a clean start.
Fitting floor work around Gilroy business hours
Both jobs need the area free of people and furniture, and both need drying time. We schedule them after closing, overnight or on a weekend, so the floor is ready when staff and customers return. Long corridors and lobbies can be done in sections so that one entrance stays open throughout.
Before the crew arrives, clear chairs, floor mats and display stands from the areas being treated, and let your team know which doors will be closed. For a strip, plan on the room staying shut until the next morning.
One floor plan that uses both
Most buildings end up with a mix. Entrances, corridors and sales floors take the most traffic, so they get the shorter recoat rhythm. Back offices and quiet rooms go longer between visits. Each area reaches a strip on its own timeline rather than all at once.
Between those visits, routine sweeping and mopping keep grit from grinding into the finish, and burnishing restores gloss on a coating that is still in good shape. For how floor care sits within a full room-by-room cleaning plan, see our scope of work guide.
Getting the right job booked
Request a quote or call (408) 549-7926. We will walk the floors with you, say which areas need a recoat and which are ready for a strip, and price the work for the nights or weekend that suit your building.
A few useful answers
Common questions
Does strip and wax mean the same thing as strip and refinish on VCT?
Yes. Most people call floor finish wax, so both names describe the same job: every coat removed down to bare tile, then fresh coats laid and left to cure.
Is a scrub and recoat enough for a scuffed lobby?
Yes, when the scuffs sit in the upper layers and the finish underneath is still whole. If the wear has reached the tile in the walkways, a full strip is the better fix.
How long should people stay off a freshly stripped floor?
Overnight. New coats cure best with the room closed until morning, which is why we book strips after closing or over a weekend.
Can a strip and refinish be done one section at a time?
Yes. We split lobbies and long corridors into sections, so one route or entrance stays usable while another area dries.
Does Gilroy Janitorial do both scrub and recoat and full strips?
Yes. Both are part of our hard floor service, along with burnishing and polishing, for VCT and the other hard surfaces we maintain.
How is the timing for each job decided?
By traffic. We set it on the walkthrough: entries and sales floors get the shortest cycle, quieter rooms go longer, and we adjust once the wear pattern shows.