When hiring a company to strip and wax your floors, you must be careful you aren't taken advantage of. I say this from experience. I was an executive of a company that had offices in NY and NC. Not only did I have the responsibility of the office and backend operations, but also did the field work. The owner (President), his son (Vice President), and myself (Vice President of Operations), all did the janitorial duties with the crews. And now I own my own in Florida. While with the NY company, several trips were made to the NC office.
Through all this, I have met many people and business owners. One common theme continues to arise. Unsatisfactory floor strip/waxing. If you need a floor strip/waxed, be sure to understand the proper method and what to look for.
Many a homeowner and business have horrible looking floors despite paying alot of money for the job. They are typically told a strip/wax is required every year. Some are told every 6 months. I can understand why a business may fall for this, especially one with traffic. But I cannot understand why a homeowner would. If your current cleaning service is strip/waxing your floors every 6months - 1yr, you need to look for a new, more honest, cleaning service.
Cleaning services that strip/wax in a 1yr frequency are most likely using a cheap wax and at best only applying two coats. Chances are the company is also a fly-by-night.
A proper strip/wax should last between 3-5yrs for a business (depending on traffic), longer for a home. The longevity between required strip/waxes is ensured through the use of a decent high-end wax, number of layers of wax, and buff's. A buff should be performed every 3-4 months on average. The buff must also be done properly. Depending on traffic, a decent coating is 3-4 coats of a high-end wax.
If your company simply turns on the buffer and races over the floor, nothing is being accomplished. There are several different types of polishes and solutions that should be used with a buffing. The buffing actually melts, smooths, re-dries the wax, which gives the floors that "I was just strip/waxed" look. The traffic over the floor will determine how many times the floor can recieve a buff before a strip/wax is required.
What makes a wax low-end, mediocre, or high-end is the percentage of solids. Higher percentage of solids, the better the wax. In otherwords, a 13%-solid wax is extremely low-end. A 30%-solid or higher is a decent wax that will give lasting results.
Adding a buff to the contract may appear at first glance it will cost you more. But in reality it will save you money. Buff's are not expensive. Buff's are a necessary part of floor maintenance. A buff, in comparison to a strip/wax, is a fraction of the cost and keeps the floor looking nicer longer.
Strictly for educational purposes I will provide an example using easy numbers:
(The numbers used below are strictly for this example. Pricing has many factors, including Sq. Ft., which is not necessary to include in this example.)
Let's say you have a business with a large size floor and are paying $1,000 annually for a strip/wax. Your floor recieves high traffic.
With your cleaning company that equates $3,000 every 3yrs. If you take that same price of $1,000 for a strip/wax and add a high-end wax and buff's, lets see what happens. We're going to assume the strip/wax starts in January and the buff's are scheduled every 4 months. Buff's we'll say is $150 to keep it easy.
Year 1
Jan - Strip/Wax = $1,000
May - Buff = $150
Sept - Buff = $150
Year 2
Jan - Buff = $150
May - Buff = $150
Sept - Buff = $150
Year 3
Jan - Buff = $150
May - Buff = $150
Sept - Buff = $150
3 year total = $2,200
The price every 3yrs of $2,200 gives you a savings of $800 simply by adding buff's and high-end wax into the equation. If you had the opportunity to save money while at the same time keeping your floors looking nice and shiny, wouldn't you? Ofcourse you would. It's a win/win for you.
Prices that sometimes appear higher, may in reality be cheaper once broken down. Pay less attention to the upfront cost and more attention to the service you are being provided when hiring a company to strip/wax your floor. Be sure to stay away from companies that don't offer intermediate buff's but instead attempt to convince you to strip/wax every 6months. If they have to strip/wax every 6months they aren't using decent wax nor do they care about you, their customer.
When hiring a service, be sure they use decent wax and offer buff's to aid in prolonging the life of the wax. Remember, the amount of traffic your floor recieves also plays a factor in the longevity of the wax and the frequency of required buff's.
If you have any questions or comments, leave them below.
Before commenting please read the Terms Of Service for this website and blog.
Through all this, I have met many people and business owners. One common theme continues to arise. Unsatisfactory floor strip/waxing. If you need a floor strip/waxed, be sure to understand the proper method and what to look for.
Many a homeowner and business have horrible looking floors despite paying alot of money for the job. They are typically told a strip/wax is required every year. Some are told every 6 months. I can understand why a business may fall for this, especially one with traffic. But I cannot understand why a homeowner would. If your current cleaning service is strip/waxing your floors every 6months - 1yr, you need to look for a new, more honest, cleaning service.
Cleaning services that strip/wax in a 1yr frequency are most likely using a cheap wax and at best only applying two coats. Chances are the company is also a fly-by-night.
A proper strip/wax should last between 3-5yrs for a business (depending on traffic), longer for a home. The longevity between required strip/waxes is ensured through the use of a decent high-end wax, number of layers of wax, and buff's. A buff should be performed every 3-4 months on average. The buff must also be done properly. Depending on traffic, a decent coating is 3-4 coats of a high-end wax.
If your company simply turns on the buffer and races over the floor, nothing is being accomplished. There are several different types of polishes and solutions that should be used with a buffing. The buffing actually melts, smooths, re-dries the wax, which gives the floors that "I was just strip/waxed" look. The traffic over the floor will determine how many times the floor can recieve a buff before a strip/wax is required.
What makes a wax low-end, mediocre, or high-end is the percentage of solids. Higher percentage of solids, the better the wax. In otherwords, a 13%-solid wax is extremely low-end. A 30%-solid or higher is a decent wax that will give lasting results.
Adding a buff to the contract may appear at first glance it will cost you more. But in reality it will save you money. Buff's are not expensive. Buff's are a necessary part of floor maintenance. A buff, in comparison to a strip/wax, is a fraction of the cost and keeps the floor looking nicer longer.
Strictly for educational purposes I will provide an example using easy numbers:
(The numbers used below are strictly for this example. Pricing has many factors, including Sq. Ft., which is not necessary to include in this example.)
Let's say you have a business with a large size floor and are paying $1,000 annually for a strip/wax. Your floor recieves high traffic.
With your cleaning company that equates $3,000 every 3yrs. If you take that same price of $1,000 for a strip/wax and add a high-end wax and buff's, lets see what happens. We're going to assume the strip/wax starts in January and the buff's are scheduled every 4 months. Buff's we'll say is $150 to keep it easy.
Year 1
Jan - Strip/Wax = $1,000
May - Buff = $150
Sept - Buff = $150
Year 2
Jan - Buff = $150
May - Buff = $150
Sept - Buff = $150
Year 3
Jan - Buff = $150
May - Buff = $150
Sept - Buff = $150
3 year total = $2,200
The price every 3yrs of $2,200 gives you a savings of $800 simply by adding buff's and high-end wax into the equation. If you had the opportunity to save money while at the same time keeping your floors looking nice and shiny, wouldn't you? Ofcourse you would. It's a win/win for you.
Prices that sometimes appear higher, may in reality be cheaper once broken down. Pay less attention to the upfront cost and more attention to the service you are being provided when hiring a company to strip/wax your floor. Be sure to stay away from companies that don't offer intermediate buff's but instead attempt to convince you to strip/wax every 6months. If they have to strip/wax every 6months they aren't using decent wax nor do they care about you, their customer.
When hiring a service, be sure they use decent wax and offer buff's to aid in prolonging the life of the wax. Remember, the amount of traffic your floor recieves also plays a factor in the longevity of the wax and the frequency of required buff's.
If you have any questions or comments, leave them below.
Before commenting please read the Terms Of Service for this website and blog.