To choose a commercial floor stripping and waxing contractor, verify they carry general liability and workers’ compensation insurance, insist on an in person walkthrough before they quote you, confirm your job is handled by trained in-house crews rather than anonymous subcontractors, and check references from facilities like yours. The lowest bid is rarely the safest one.
A bad strip and wax can leave you with a slippery floor, a hazy finish, or chemical damage that costs more to fix than the job did in the first place.
Floor work looks simple from the outside. It is not. The crew is handling caustic stripper, heavy machines, and a finish that has to cure evenly across thousands of square feet, often overnight while your building is empty. Who you hire decides whether you walk in to a mirror shine or a mess. Here is how to pick the right contractor with confidence.
Start With Insurance. It Is Not Optional
Before you talk about price, finish, or schedule, confirm the contractor is properly insured. This is the single fastest way to separate a real company from a guy with a buffer in his trunk.
Ask for two things in writing:
- General liability insurance, ideally with at least $1 million in coverage. This protects you if the crew damages your floor, your fixtures, or your building.
- Workers’ compensation insurance, which covers the crew if someone is injured on your property. Stripping chemicals cause burns, and wet floors cause falls. Without workers’ comp, an injury on your site can become your problem.
Do not take “we’re insured” at face value. Ask them to have their insurer send a certificate of insurance directly to you, with your facility named. A legitimate contractor does this without blinking. If a company stalls, makes excuses, or sends a screenshot that looks edited, treat that as your answer and move on.
For a janitorial company in Pennsylvania, being registered and fully insured in the state is the baseline, not a selling point. It is the floor you start from, not the ceiling.
Insist on a Walkthrough Before Any Quote
A contractor who quotes you a price over the phone, sight unseen, is guessing. And when a guess turns out wrong partway through the job, the cost lands on you in the form of a change order or a corner cut.
A serious contractor will come to your facility and do a real assessment first. During that walkthrough they should be looking at:
- Floor type and condition, because VCT, terrazzo, sealed concrete, and rubber all behave differently under stripper and finish.
- How much old finish has built up, which decides how aggressive the strip needs to be.
- Square footage and layout, including tight corners, fixed equipment, and edges that need hand work.
- Access and timing, so they can plan around your hours.
Out of that visit you should get a written proposal built around your floors, not a flat per square foot rate pulled from a price sheet.
The walkthrough is also your first read on the company. Did they show up on time? Did they explain what they saw? Did they ask smart questions about your operation? That is the same crew you are trusting with an empty building at 2 a.m.
Ask Who Actually Does the Work
This is the question franchises hope you never ask. Many large floor care brands sell the contract and then hand the actual labor to whatever subcontractor is available that week. You meet a polished salesperson, and a crew you have never met does the job.
Ask directly whether your floors are stripped and waxed by the company’s own trained employees or by rotating subcontractors. In-house crews tend to mean consistent training, accountability, and a team that has a reason to protect the company’s name. Subcontractors who rotate from week to week mean the quality changes every visit, and no one feels responsible when it slips.
You also want to know who your point of contact is once the job starts. A single dedicated contact who knows your account beats a 1-800 number and a ticket queue every time something needs sorting out.
Confirm They Know Your Floor and the Right Procedure
Not every dull floor needs a full strip and wax. A good contractor will tell you that, even when a bigger job means a bigger invoice for them. That honesty is a green flag.
Ask whether your floor actually needs a full strip, or whether a lighter scrub and recoat or a buff would get the same result for less. A contractor who pushes the most expensive option for every floor, every time, is selling, not advising.
Then confirm they have real experience with your surface and setting:
- Your floor type, because the finish, the stripper strength, and the number of coats all change with the material.
- Your kind of facility, since a medical office, a school, and a restaurant kitchen each carry different slip safety and downtime demands.
- The number of finish coats they plan to apply, and why. More coats are not automatically better, but a contractor who cannot explain their plan does not have one.
If you want to understand the procedures before you interview anyone, our facility manager’s guide to commercial floor stripping and waxing breaks down exactly what each step involves.
Get References and Look at Real Results
A confident contractor will hand over references without hesitation. Ask for at least three current commercial clients, and ideally ones running facilities similar to yours.
When you reach out, ask the things a sales pitch will not tell you:
- Did the floors actually look the way they were promised?
- Did the crew show up and finish on schedule?
- How did the company handle anything that went wrong?
- Would they hire them again?
Before and after photos of real jobs are useful, but references who will pick up the phone are better. A long trail of repeat commercial customers is the strongest signal of all. Businesses do not keep rehiring a floor contractor that lets them down.
Pin Down Scheduling and Downtime
A strip and wax shuts a space down while the floor is worked and while the finish cures. For a business, that downtime is a real cost, and a good contractor plans around it instead of around their own convenience.
Ask how they handle timing:
- Do they work nights, weekends, and early mornings so your operation keeps running?
- How long will each area be out of service while the finish cures?
- Can they phase the work so you never lose the whole floor at once?
A contractor who can only work 9 to 5 on weekdays is a poor fit for most commercial facilities. The ability to work around your hours, with zero disruption, is one of the clearest dividing lines between a vendor built for businesses and one built for houses.
Read the Proposal and the Warranty Closely
Once the quotes come in, the cheapest number on the page is the most dangerous place to start. A lowball bid usually means thin stripper, too few coats, rushed cure time, or a surprise charge later. The result peels, yellows, or goes slippery within months, and you pay twice.
Compare quotes line by line so you are weighing the same scope, not just the same total. Our guide to reading a commercial floor care quote line by line shows you exactly what each line should contain and where contractors hide gaps. If one bid is dramatically lower than the rest, find out what was left out, because a cheap floor quote almost always costs more in the end.
Then ask about the warranty. A contractor who stands behind their work will fix a problem, like streaking, hazing, or premature peeling, at no charge within a reasonable window. Get that promise in writing. “We’ll take care of you” means nothing the day a finish fails if it was never on paper.
Local Contractor or National Franchise: How to Decide
Both can do good work, and both can disappoint you. The difference is usually accountability and who shows up.
A national franchise gives you brand recognition and a standardized contract. The tradeoff is that the local franchise owner may subcontract the labor, and your account is one of thousands, so a problem can be slow to resolve.
A local contractor is generally easier to hold accountable. The owner is often on site or a phone call away, the crews are usually their own employees, and their reputation in your area depends on your floor looking right. The tradeoff is that you have to vet them yourself rather than leaning on a national name.
A simple way to decide:
- If you value one accountable owner, in-house crews, and flexible local scheduling, a strong local contractor is usually the better choice.
- If you need identical service across many sites under one contract, a national brand may fit, as long as you confirm who actually performs the work at each location.
Many good local contractors also subcontract for national brands, which means you can sometimes get the same crew that services the big accounts by hiring them directly.
Your Commercial Floor Stripping and Waxing Contractor Checklist
When you boil it down, the right contractor checks every one of these boxes:
- Carries general liability and workers’ comp insurance, proven by a certificate sent to you
- Visits your site and provides a written proposal built around your floors
- Uses trained in-house crews, not rotating subcontractors
- Knows your floor type and recommends the right procedure honestly
- Provides at least three commercial references who vouch for them
- Works around your hours to minimize downtime
- Gives a clear quote and a written warranty
- Has a track record of repeat commercial clients in your area
A contractor who clears all eight is worth more than one who simply came in cheapest. Floors are an investment, and the right partner protects it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What insurance should a commercial floor waxing contractor have?
At minimum, general liability insurance, ideally $1 million or more, and workers’ compensation insurance. Liability protects your property if the crew damages your floor or building, and workers’ comp covers injuries on your site so they do not become your liability. Ask for a certificate of insurance sent directly from their insurer with your facility named.
Should a contractor visit before giving me a quote?
Yes. Any quote given over the phone without seeing your floors is a guess. A proper contractor does a walkthrough to assess the floor type, condition, square footage, and access, then gives you a written proposal built around your specific space rather than a flat rate.
How many references should I ask for?
Ask for at least three current commercial clients, preferably ones with facilities similar to yours. Actually call them and ask whether the floors looked as promised, whether the crew finished on schedule, and whether they would hire the contractor again.
How do I know if a strip and wax job was done right?
A good job leaves an even, consistent shine with no streaks, hazing, or bubbles, and the floor should not feel slippery underfoot. A quality finish in a normal commercial setting typically holds up for six to twelve months, less in high traffic areas. If the finish peels or yellows within weeks, the job was rushed or given too few coats.
Do floor stripping and waxing contractors offer a warranty?
Reputable ones do. A standard warranty covers free fixes for problems like streaking, hazing, or premature peeling within a set window. Always get the warranty terms in writing before work begins, because a verbal promise is worth nothing once a finish fails.
Is it better to hire a local contractor or a national franchise?
A local contractor is usually easier to hold accountable, often uses its own in-house crews, and depends on its local reputation, which works in your favor. A national franchise offers brand recognition and contracts that span many sites but may subcontract the actual labor. If you run a single facility, a strong local contractor is typically the better value.
Excellence Janitorial Services has stripped and waxed commercial floors across Northeastern Pennsylvania for more than ten years. We are family owned, registered, and fully insured in the state, we send our own trained crews, and every job starts with an on-site walkthrough and a written proposal built around your floors. If you are weighing contractors in the Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, or Kingston area, call us at (800) 851-0806 for a free quote with no obligation.