Floor Stripping & Waxing Sacramento Corridor | from $0.55/sq ft — VCT & Hard Floor Reset

Most cleaning crews burnish over tired finish. When the wax is yellowed, thick, or scarred through to the tile, the floor needs a full strip and recoat — not another top coat.

Timla Floor Restoration strips commercial and residential hard floors across the Highway 50 & I-80 corridor, then rebuilds finish in controlled coats so the result lasts under real traffic. Published starting floor: from $0.55 / sq ft — locked after assessment.

Strip & wax vs scrub & recoat

If you are not sure which you need, read strip & wax vs scrub & recoat or request a floor assessment. Guessing wrong either wastes money on a full strip or leaves a floor that still looks tired after a recoat.

When a full strip is the right call

A full strip is usually the right path when you see one or more of these:

• Yellow or amber film that burnishing cannot clear — old finish has oxidized or built up in layers
• Traffic lanes worn to the tile while edges still look thick and cloudy
• Deep scratches, black marks, or patch repairs that sit in the finish, not just on the surface
• Peeling, powdering, or soft film after years of mopping and burnishing over failed coats
• A “dull after every buff” cycle — the base film is gone; gloss will not hold

Scrub & recoat (interim maintenance) still has a place between full strips when the base coats are sound. Burnishing alone will not fix a failed film.

Floors we strip and refinish

• VCT — the classic strip-and-wax floor in schools, retail, offices, and clinics
• Vinyl / linoleum — only with chemistry matched to the material (aggressive VCT strippers can damage linoleum)
• Other resilient hard floors — scoped on site when the finish system allows stripping

We do not treat every surface the same. Hardwood, natural stone, and many LVT products need different processes — we will say so up front rather than force a strip cycle that ruins the floor. For wood care paths, see hardwood; for tile that needs grout restoration rather than wax film, see tile & grout.

VCT vs vinyl notes (why chemistry matters)

VCT is designed for repeated strip-and-finish cycles with commercial strippers and finish systems. Sheet vinyl and linoleum often need milder chemistry and tighter dwell control — the wrong stripper can haze, soften, or permanently dull the wear layer. LVT and many “no-wax” products are not strip-and-wax floors at all.

That is why Timla scopes material first, then process. Photos of the floor and a close-up of an edge or damaged tile usually tell us enough to recommend strip vs scrub vs a different service before we roll a truck.

How a Timla strip job runs

1. Survey — surface type, condition, square footage, edges, access, and curing time before foot traffic returns
2. Specify — confirm strip vs scrub-and-recoat; coat count; overnight or weekend window
3. Protect — edges, baseboards, and adjacent areas so the rest of the facility stays usable
4. Strip — remove old finish, agitate soil and buildup, recover slurry, rinse
5. Neutralize & dry — balance the floor so new finish bonds cleanly
6. Recoat — apply commercial finish in thin, even coats with dry time between coats
7. Document — photo set and maintenance notes so you know what was done and when to recoat next

Overnight and weekend windows

Most commercial strip jobs run overnight or on a weekend so staff and customers return to dry floors. Coat count and cure time drive the outage — expect several hours between coats and often 4–8+ hours after the last coat before normal foot traffic (longer before rolling loads). Commercial overnight work is priced at 1.5× the scoped job; details live in the pricing guide and overnight cleaning pages.

Ideal for

• Schools and universities with worn hallway VCT
• Retail and offices where first impressions matter
• Medical and clinic floors that need a clean, durable reset
• Property managers scheduling after-hours work so daytime traffic is not interrupted
• Multi-tenant corridors where one failed wing makes the whole floor look neglected

What drives the price

Published floor for strip & wax is from $0.55 / sq ft. The locked number moves with:

• Condition — built-up or worn-through finish takes longer than a light reset
• Square footage and layout — edges, fixtures, and cut-up rooms add machine and hand time
• Access — elevators, security, and occupied buildings add logistics
• Coat count and cure window — more coats mean more on-site hours
• Prep — furniture moving and excessive soil removal are scoped separately when needed

Small jobs still meet the $150 job minimum (before trip / after-hours fees). Corridor drive time is built into published floors for listed service locations; out-of-area travel is $1.50 / mile round trip. Full fee table: pricing guide. Cost context: how much does strip & wax cost?.

What you get from the assessment

Before we quote a locked number, we need facility type, floor material, approximate square footage, and access (nights/weekends). Photo/video assessment is free. On-site walks are not free (Rancho Cordova from $10; other ZIPs by location from our Gold River warehouse).

You get a written scope: strip vs recoat, expected window, coat expectations, and what happens after the last coat before the floor can take traffic again. No surprise add-ons after that assessment.

Request a floor assessment · Call 916-868-4634