Floor Care · Scrub & Recoat
A scrub and recoat is how a smart facility keeps its floors bright without paying for a full strip every time. It pulls off the dirty top layer of finish and lays down fresh coats, so the floor looks renewed at a fraction of the cost and downtime.
Floor finish wears and soils from the top down. A scrub-and-recoat machine-scrubs off that worn, dirty top layer, the floor is rinsed and dried, and one to two coats of fresh finish go back on. The lower, still-good layers stay, so you get a renewed surface without the time, cost, and disruption of stripping down to bare tile.
| Scrub & recoat | Strip & wax | |
|---|---|---|
| Removes | Soiled top layer only | All finish, to the tile |
| Adds | 1 to 2 coats | Sealer plus 4 to 5 coats |
| Cost | Much lower | Highest |
| Downtime | Less | Most |
| Fixes yellowing? | No | Yes |
| Best when | Finish is dull but sound | Finish is yellowed, worn, or built up |
See the full strip and wax service for the deeper reset.
Recoat while the finish is still working, strip once it has failed. Signs it is recoat time, not strip time:
Most standard commercial floors benefit from a scrub-and-recoat on a quarterly rhythm, more often in entries and high-traffic corridors. The point is to recoat before the finish wears down to the tile.
Recoating on a set cadence, with burnishing in between, is exactly what keeps a floor bright and a full strip years apart. A maintenance program schedules it so it never slips.
Related: strip and wax, buffing and burnishing, how many coats of wax, and VCT floor care.
It is a maintenance service that removes the soiled top layer of floor finish with a scrub, then applies one or two fresh coats. It refreshes the shine and protection without a full strip down to the tile.
A strip removes all the finish and rebuilds it with a sealer plus several coats; a recoat removes only the dirty top layer and adds one or two coats. Recoat costs and disrupts far less.
Often quarterly in standard commercial space, more in high-traffic areas. The goal is to recoat before the finish wears down to the tile, which is what keeps a full strip years apart instead of annual.
No. Yellowing lives in the lower layers, so it takes a full strip to remove. Recoating refreshes a finish that is dull or lightly worn but still sound and clear.
It runs well below a full strip and wax, roughly $0.20 to $0.90 per square foot depending on size and condition. Because it extends the life of the finish, it lowers cost over the year.
Less than a full strip, since there is no stripping or neutralizing stage. Most areas are done overnight and ready by opening.
Only floors that carry finish, like VCT. It is not used on no-wax luxury vinyl, stone, or hardwood, which are maintained differently.
Not if it is done correctly. The scrub removes the worn top layer before recoating, so the build stays in a healthy range between full strips.
Tell us your facility, floor types, and square footage. We'll scope the work and send a written quote. Not sure what you have? Send a photo and we'll tell you.