Cleaning floors (stripping & wax)

Our janitorial service got called to a school. What we assumed would be light office cleaning turned into what the pictures show- a total mess. We have never done floors that needed such deep cleaning. At any rate we want to peruse this client to gain the experience and know how. These floors have been filthy for who knows how long. I’ve stopped by a few places here in Canton, Ohio and found equipment we could rent for this job. I’m no expert on the pricing but we calculated about 6,700 of square feet needing service. What is the going rate or suggested calculations? Any chemical advice? Should we get out?

They also want Windows however I think we will turn that down. I may discuss that in another post.

They do also want bathroom and wall cleaning. For the most part these areas are highly soiled. Any input in that respect would help also…I mean look how dirty that toilet is!

I don’t have pricing recs but I strongly encourage you to manage expectations and take lots of before and after pics. I would tell the customer that I can reduce the intensity of the stains but I would not guarantee removal (unless battery acid was an option).

Another option is to bid the job as a time & materials project. The owner would probably want a range of the number of hours so probably healthy to not underestimate. Getting paid an hourly rate might be the safest route for a reclamation project of this scale.

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Ask this same question on Truckmount Forums, or find a local carpet cleaner and team up with them. Commercial carpet I’ve seen from .18 to .30 per square foot not including stain removal. If this is your first job like this it’s a lot to swallow. You can also ask any local carpet cleaning supply store they know all this stuff.

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This may sound odd. Not sure if it is just an error. I created an account on that forum and cannot seem to figure out how to make a post?

Yeah I joined the Facebook group and posted there

Trunkmount forums can help a lot. I cut my teeth on flooring like that a year ago and I will say that you will have some issues with some of the stains. Especially rust, which I see in one of the pictures. The wax looks to be gone from the floors and from the looks of it, it has been gone several years. That dirt and staining is now embedded in the pores of the VCT tile and will likely remain there after a good strip and wax.

The process is relatively easy once you know the sequence of events and have all the right equipment, I would highly recommend youtube and searching VCT strip and wax step by step procedures. Even better would be to ask a local floor company to possibly split the profit with you, teach you and use their equipment and people so you can watch the process. I did this exact thing and learned way more than I expected, along with getting a professional job done and earning more business from that one deal. I gave 75% of the money I made to the crew who taught me and let me use their people and equipment and it paid off several times over. If you dont want to go that route, then trunkmount, and youtube are your best options for learning. My name on trunk mount forums is John Guerra and you can search for me on there. There is a wonderfully written step by step with pictures from a guy on what you need, and what steps to do in what order.
VCT flooring was and is the primary income producer with window cleaning a close second and I enjoy doing it more than cleaning carpets and tile & grout floors. Pricing varies just like windows depending on where you are and her in NC we get anywhere from $.29 to $.39 per square foot. Most jobs i do land in the $.31 to $.35 range.
My price would be if it was all VCT which it is not, on the higher side. The tape residue, the scrubbing of all the edges of the walls by hand and amount of stripper and wax needed would ring up to 6700 x $.35 = $2345. You could drop down to $.31 for $2077. It’s a great addition to your business if you can slowly gain the needed equipment while you build this add on. Last word of advice, spend the money on the chemicals, do not go cheap. You will get cheap looking results, the stripper is the most important chemical and you want one that eats old embedded wax and tape residue. I use bare bones by NCL and the 24/7 wax by NCL.

The bathroom floors will need a good alkaline based cleaner, might even need to step up to the acid based. The walls I would tackle with trunk mount forums groutmaster or viper venom with peroxide.

Good luck,
Hope this helps

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Taking on a floor job that big for your first job might not be the best route as it is easy to get in over your head if you lack the equipment and chemicals. I STRONGLY recommend BETCO products for stripper. That stuff is so strong sometimes we can get by without using a floor scrubber. That VCT looks old, but not damaged too much - it still has the color textures on it which is a good sign. Rust spots don’t look too embedded but you wont’ know until you start stripping how much of it will come up.

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here is a photo with the before and after combined

The point is it is hard to tell what is under that old finish. Most times the VCT is salvageable

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Nice work.

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I went ahead an too your advice. You have gave me an tremendous amount of guidance- I cannot thank you enough. I will keep you updated.

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The chemical company in our area carries betco! You’re the pro so I will take your recommendation. Thank you for the pictures. I feel a bit more capable now.

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We tried a foray into floor cleaning. My brother had years of experience and we were thinking about branching out and doing more. It was a total nightmare. In one poorly maintained room, the stripper got under the tiles and started peeling them up.

I made a vow to myself to never take a job again unless it was something I personally knew how to do. Or, at the very least, don’t take a job without paying a pro who knows what they’re doing and can explain it to me as we work.

What can go wrong? Turns out quite a bit. :grin:

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