Why floors fail early
Most commercial floors don't wear out from foot traffic alone — they wear out from grit. Sand and dirt tracked in from parking lots act like sandpaper under every step, cutting through the finish and eventually scoring the tile itself. Once the finish is gone, the substrate absorbs soil and no amount of mopping brings back the shine.
The fix is a maintenance cycle, not a one-time project. Daily dust mopping, weekly damp mopping, quarterly scrub-and-recoat, and an annual full strip-and-wax will keep a VCT floor looking new for well over a decade.
The strip-and-wax sequence we use
A proper strip removes every layer of old finish so new coats bond directly to clean tile. Skipping steps here is the single most common reason a floor hazes or peels a few weeks later.
- Clear and protect: move furniture, mask baseboards, post wet-floor signage.
- Apply stripper and let it dwell — never let it dry on the tile.
- Machine scrub with the correct pad, then wet-vac the slurry.
- Neutralize rinse until the pH tests clean; residue kills adhesion.
- Apply 4–5 thin coats of finish, edges first, with full dry time between.
Scheduling around occupied buildings
Schools, clinics, and government facilities can't shut down for floor work. We sequence corridors in sections and work overnight or over weekends so every space is dry, restored, and open before the next business day. Clear signage and taped-off zones keep occupants safe throughout.
XGM handles this work nationwide.
Janitorial programs, specialty floor care, post-construction cleanup, and disaster recovery for government and commercial facilities.
Request a Quote
