How long does a commercial strip and wax take? As a rough rule, the work runs at about 150 square feet per hour per worker once you count the stripping, the rinse, and the multiple coats of finish that each have to dry. That means a 1,000 square foot room is usually a single overnight job, a 5,000 square foot space runs two to three days, and a large building gets phased across several nights or a weekend. The exact number depends on a handful of variables, and knowing them is how you plan the downtime instead of guessing.
Most contractors answer “how long” with a vague “overnight,” which is true for a small floor and useless for a big one. Here is what the timeline actually looks like by size, what moves it, and how to schedule it around your operation.
How long does a commercial strip and wax take, by size?
These ranges assume a standard two-person crew, a floor in normal condition, and three to five coats of finish. A floor with heavy buildup, many small rooms, or high humidity sits at the longer end.
| Floor size | Realistic time | Typical schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 1,000 sq ft | 4 to 8 hours | One overnight |
| 1,000 to 2,500 sq ft | 8 to 12 hours | One long night or two evenings |
| 2,500 to 5,000 sq ft | 2 to 3 days | A weekend, or several nights |
| 5,000 to 10,000 sq ft | 3 to 5 days | A long weekend or phased nights |
| 10,000 sq ft and up | Phased by zone | Multiple nights or a larger crew |
A 10,000 square foot building with a two-person crew working about 2,500 square feet a day runs close to four working sessions. Add people and you compress that; keep it to two and you stretch it out. This is why a good contractor quotes a schedule, not just a single overnight.
What actually drives the time
Square footage is the starting point, not the whole answer. Five things move the timeline up or down.
Floor condition and finish buildup
The strip is the most variable step. A floor with one or two coats of finish strips fast; a floor with years of built-up wax can take 3 to 10 hours just to strip before any finish goes back on. If your floors have not been fully stripped in a long time, expect the longer end. The full sequence is laid out in the complete commercial floor stripping and waxing process.
Number of finish coats
Most commercial floors get three to five coats, and each coat has to dry before the next goes on. More coats means a longer service window, not just more product. A high-traffic entrance that needs five or six coats adds real time over a back office that needs three.
Room layout
Five thousand square feet in one open room goes far faster than the same area split into a dozen small offices and restrooms. Every doorway means moving the machine, edging by hand, and working around fixtures. Broken-up layouts can add hours to the same square footage.
Crew size
The job scales with people. A two-person crew is the practical minimum; doubling the crew on a large floor can roughly halve the calendar time. For a big building, the real question is whether the contractor brings enough crew to finish in your available window.
Humidity and air flow
Drying is weather-dependent. In a warm, dry, well-ventilated space, coats dry in 20 to 45 minutes. In a humid space, that drying time can nearly double, which stretches the whole job. Good crews use air movers, but they never point a fan straight at a wet floor.
Drying versus curing: when you can use the floor
These are two different clocks, and mixing them up is what causes scuffed floors on day one.
Drying is the 20 to 45 minutes a coat needs before the next coat goes on. Curing is the finish fully hardening, which takes longer. Light foot traffic is usually fine within a few hours of the last coat, but heavy traffic, rolling carts, and putting furniture back should wait 24 to 48 hours so footprints and scuffs do not press into a finish that is still setting.
When you ask a contractor “how long,” make sure you are getting the time until you can fully reopen, not just the time until the last coat is down.
Why it is usually done overnight or on a weekend
A floor being stripped and waxed is out of service for the whole job: wet, chemically stripped, then coated and curing. For most businesses, that has to happen when nobody is walking on it.
That is why strip and wax is scheduled overnight, over a weekend, or during a planned closure. For a large building, the smart approach is phasing by zone: stripping and waxing one section per night so the rest of the building stays open. A contractor who understands your operating hours will plan around them rather than shutting you down.
If your floors do not actually need a full strip, the job is far shorter. A scrub and recoat skips the stripping stage entirely, and knowing which one you need is covered in strip and wax versus scrub and recoat versus buff.
Plan the schedule, not just the hours
The useful question is not “how many hours” but “when will my floor be fully back in service.” Ask any contractor for a schedule that names the square footage, the number of coats, the crew size, and the reopen time, and for a large space, how they will phase it by zone.
A faster quote is not automatically a better one. A crew that promises a 10,000 square foot building in a single short night is either bringing a large team or planning to cut the strip short, and a rushed strip fails within weeks. If the timeline sounds too good, check the work against our walk-through checklist for a strip and wax done right.
The same variables that set the timeline also set the price. We break those down in what drives the cost of a commercial strip and wax job.
Excellence Janitorial Services schedules strip and wax around how your facility actually runs, across Northeastern Pennsylvania. If you want a realistic timeline for your space, call us at (800) 851-0806 for a free walk-through and estimate.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to strip and wax 1,000 square feet?
A 1,000 square foot open area usually takes 4 to 8 hours, which covers stripping, rinsing, and applying and drying several coats of finish. That makes it a single overnight job for most businesses. A heavily built-up floor or a space broken into small rooms pushes it toward the longer end.
How long does a strip and wax take for a large building?
A 10,000 square foot building runs about four working sessions with a two-person crew at roughly 2,500 square feet per day, or less if the contractor brings a bigger crew. Buildings above that are typically phased by zone over several nights or a weekend so part of the facility stays open. Plan it around your operating hours.
How long before you can walk on the floor after waxing?
Light foot traffic is usually fine within a few hours of the final coat, but the finish keeps curing afterward. Heavy traffic, rolling carts, and replacing furniture should wait 24 to 48 hours so nothing presses into a finish that is still hardening.
Why does strip and wax have to be done overnight or on a weekend?
The floor is completely out of service during the job, wet and stripped, then coated and curing. Scheduling it overnight or over a weekend keeps it off-limits while it is worked and while it cures, so there is no disruption to normal operations.
Does the condition of the floor change how long it takes?
Yes, a lot. Stripping is the most variable step. A floor with light finish strips quickly, while one with years of built-up wax can take 3 to 10 hours just to strip before any new finish goes down. Floors that are maintained on a regular cycle take less time each round.