Resources
Deciding between a full strip and a scrub and recoat for tile floors
Two ways to renew the finish on vinyl tile, set against each other on depth of work, telltale wear, how long the floor is out of use and their place in a yearly cycle.
The finish is what wears, not the tile.
Vinyl composition tile and similar resilient floors carry a clear finish built up in thin coats. That clear layer is what absorbs heel scuffs, sand and cart wheels, which is why a well-kept tile floor can last for decades. Nightly dust mopping and regular burnishing keep the top of that finish bright. Sooner or later, though, the top coats wear through in the walkways and the floor needs fresh finish laid down.
Renewing it happens at one of two depths. Stripping dissolves every coat until the tile is bare, and the crew then lays an entirely new build of finish. Recoating keeps the bottom coats where they are, scrubs off only the worn and dirty upper layer, then adds new coats over the remainder. Either one leaves a glossy floor. Where they part ways is in how much comes off, how many nights the room stays closed and how often each belongs on the calendar.
Side by side.
Work down the rows with your own floor in mind. Answers that mostly match the Recoat column mean a recoat should carry it for now. When the floor keeps matching the Full strip column, the finish is beyond a recoat and needs to come off.
| Point of comparison | Recoat | Full strip |
|---|---|---|
| Finish removed | The scuffed, soiled upper coats | Every coat, until the tile is bare |
| Finish applied | A few new coats over a sound base | A whole new build, coat by coat |
| Condition it suits | Flat traffic lanes, clean color underneath | Amber, flaking or thick layered finish |
| Walls and corners | Left alone | Old buildup scraped and cleared |
| Room closed for | Usually one evening | Longer, for rinsing and drying each coat |
| How often | In between strips, as lanes go dull | About yearly on a busy run |
| Role in the plan | Delays the next strip | Gives the floor a fresh start |
Signs a scrub and recoat will do.
A recoat suits a floor whose lower finish is still sound and evenly colored. The giveaway is a floor that looks good at the edges and under desks but has gone flat down the center of the corridor, in front of the reception counter or along the path to the breakroom. Burnishing brings back some shine but not all of it, and the shine fades again within days.
- Gloss is gone in the traffic lanes but holds near the walls
- Scuffs and black heel marks sit on the surface, not in it
- The tile color looks clean, not yellow or gray, under the dull spots
- The last full strip was done within the past year or so
In that state, scrubbing with the right pad takes the worn top coats off without cutting into the base. After a rinse, fresh finish goes on in thin coats, and the walkways match the edges again.
Signs the floor needs a full strip.
Some floors have had so many recoats that the finish itself becomes the problem. Each layer traps a little soil, and over years the buildup turns amber along the walls and in corners where machines don’t reach. Other floors have finish that is cracked, powdering or peeling. Adding new coats over either one seals the problem in and makes it harder to fix later.
- A yellow or brown band along baseboards and in corners
- Finish that flakes, powders or lifts in patches
- Dirt that sits under the finish and won’t scrub out
- Several recoats since the last time the floor went to bare tile
- A floor that still looks dull right after burnishing
On a strip night the crew spreads stripper, gives it time to soften the old coats and machine scrubs them loose, then rinses until nothing remains that could keep new finish from bonding. Fresh coats are laid on one at a time, each allowed to dry before the next. Our guide on reading floor wear covers the same warning signs for carpet, ceramic tile and concrete.
Downtime and the work night.
Both treatments close the area while the work is under way, and neither should share a floor with foot traffic. A recoat is the lighter job. A corridor or breakroom can often be scrubbed, coated and left to dry in one evening, ready for people the next morning. A strip takes longer, because the old finish has to come off, the tile has to be rinsed clean and every new coat needs time to dry before the next one goes down.
Fieldstone schedules both for evenings and weekends, ropes off one area at a time and works through larger buildings in sections, so part of the floor stays in use. Clearing chairs, mats and small furniture from the area beforehand gives the crew a full night of floor time instead of an hour of moving things.
Building both into a yearly cycle.
The two methods work best together. A typical calendar on our commercial floor care page strips and refinishes a busy run about once a year, often in summer, with burnishing and recoats in between. Recoating the walkways when they dull, before soil grinds through to the tile, is what keeps a full strip from being needed every few months.
Quiet rooms such as private offices and storage areas can go much longer between strips than an entrance or a main corridor. Setting a separate cycle for each area keeps the busy runs looking right without stripping rooms that don’t need it.
Ceramic and porcelain tile, concrete, marble and terrazzo don’t use this choice at all. Ceramic restroom floors are covered in our guide to grout and tile restroom floors, and concrete is scrubbed by machine on a cycle of its own. Fieldstone handles strip and refinish and scrub and recoat as part of floor care, and both can sit inside a recurring janitorial plan so the nightly crew protects the new finish between visits. To have your floors looked at, request a quote and we will walk them with you.
A few useful answers
Common questions.
How many times can we recoat before a full strip is due?
Until the edges start to yellow or the finish turns cloudy. Every recoat leaves older coats underneath, so buildup creeps along walls and into corners, and at that point only stripping clears it.
Is scrub and recoat the same as burnishing?
No. A burnisher spins a pad fast to shine the finish already there, without adding any. A recoat scrubs off the worn layer and puts new finish down.
Which floors are these two treatments for?
VCT, plus vinyl sheet and similar resilient flooring kept under a coat of floor finish. Ceramic tile, concrete and natural stone get different methods.
Does Fieldstone do scrub and recoat as well as full strips?
Yes. Fieldstone does both, and your written plan names which treatment each area gets and in which month.
How do we know which one our floor needs?
Look at the edges and corners. If they are clean and only the walkways are dull, a recoat fits. A yellow band at the walls or flaking finish means a full strip.