How much does floor cleaning cost?

If dirty floors have got you down, professional floor cleaning services will restore your home to its former glory. Professional floor cleaning companies tackle every type of flooring surface in every kind of property, including apartments, rentals, houses, multiunit buildings, offices and businesses or commercial spaces. And many companies provide services for various flooring types, such as concrete, hardwood, wood laminate, tile, natural stone, vinyl or linoleum sheet floors.

Many homeowners hire professional floor cleaning companies for routine service to maintain a floor's good looks as well as extending its lifespan. You can also take advantage of one-time floor cleaning for removing food and drink stains, pet stains, oil or grease stains, dirt stains, or just the adverse effects of age. Keep reading to find out how to estimate floor cleaning costs and get quotes from companies near you.

Typically, floor cleaning companies charge per square foot for their services. The cost per square foot will take into account labor, cleaning products, cleaning equipment, the relative difficulty of working with that floor type and business overhead. Some professionals can also move furniture when requested in advance. 

Impressions Commercial Maintenance & Floor Care in Brea, California, typically charges the following:

• Tile and grout simple scrub: 20 cents per square foot
• Tile and grout cleaning, plus sealer and high-end, eco-friendly cleaning products: 50 cents per square foot
• Most residential VCT flooring: 60 cents per square foot, including stripping off original finish, detailed cleaning, waxing and sealing the floor, plus two or three floor finishes
• Heavily trafficked VCT flooring (such as in commercial spaces): 70-75 cents per square foot, including stripping off original finish, detailed cleaning, waxing and sealing the floor, plus two or three floor finishes
• Burnishing natural stone floor with a diamond-impregnated pad: $1.50 per square foot. This is the most budget-friendly method of stone floor cleaning and includes a dust mop and sweep prior to cleaning.
• Polishing floor with diamond powder: $2.10 per square foot, including floor wash to prep grout line, application of powder solution, polishing, and cleaning up and sealing
• Grinding off top layer of natural stone to refinish it (also called diamond cutting or honing): $4-$6 per square foot. Be wary of a company that doesn't offer natural stone cleaning alternatives to diamond cutting. If the floor isn't too dirty, the cheaper options can work just fine.

Cleaning companies generally charge the least per square foot for flooring that is easier to clean, such as linoleum and vinyl composite tiles (VCT). Linoleum and VCT are also some of the most affordable to install and are durable over time, making them an appealing option for the budget-minded. 

Impressions Commercial Maintenance & Floor Care charges $295-$495 to clean 1,000-square-foot VCT or linoleum floor. The lower end of the range may only include a topcoat cleaning, while the higher end includes stripping off the original finish, detailed cleaning, waxing and sealing the floor, plus two or three floor finishes. A high-gloss finish costs $100 extra.

Natural stone flooring can be made from marble, slate, travertine, limestone, granite and others. Natural stone flooring is typically the most expensive type of flooring to install and has high maintenance costs.

For example, marble flooring, although exquisite and highly prized, is very soft and vulnerable to absorbing stains. Sealing marble helps prevent stains from marring its surface. On the other end of the toughness spectrum is granite flooring, which is rough and rugged and can stand up to much more abuse and spillage than marble. Regular polishing will keep it glowing and gorgeous over time.

If your natural stone floor has begun to dim with age, or has suffered one too many spills, floor cleaning companies can grind or hone down the top layer of your stone floor to reveal its fresh face underneath. They can then polish and seal your natural stone floor to protect it from future damage.

Costs will vary based on the equipment used, the type of stone floor you have, and the size of your floor, plus operational factors such as business overhead and geographic location. For example, Impressions Commercial Maintenance & Floor Care says that in a recent job, they cleaned a 1,000-square-foot natural stone floor for $900.

If you have carpet in part of your home, hire a professional carpet cleaning company to steam or dry clean them. On average, carpet cleaning prices range from $80-$299. However, this cost will vary depending on the amount of carpet, cleaning method and the carpet's condition.

You can also hire a professional tile and grout cleaning service to clean your tile floors. Expect to pay anywhere from $0.75-$3 per square foot. But keep in mind grout cleaning prices can cost several hundred dollars, depending on several factors.

Hardwood floors can last for many decades if properly maintained. Flooring professionals can refinish your hardwood floor and effectively remove the top layer of scratches, dents, and dings, revealing a new layer of strong wood underneath. Refinishing hardwood floors cost anywhere from $3 to $7 per square foot to refinish your hardwood floors, depending on the type of wood, where you live in the country and other factors. 

Hardwood floor refinishers sand down the damaged top layer and then seal the new surface with a protective coat of polyurethane that adds shine and repels stains and damage. You can choose to have a stain applied to achieve a certain color or look.  Stain typically means an extra charge per square foot, while the clear coat of polyurethane is included in standard refinishing costs. You can also choose from a range of sheens to determine how matte or glossy you want your hardwood floors to be.

Like other hard floor cleaning and resurfacing, hardwood floor refinishing is priced per square foot. Larger projects typically cost less per square foot. 

In addition to the type of flooring you have, there are several other factors that can impact costs for cleaning services.

Floor size

The larger the floor area to be cleaned, the lower the cost per square foot — but the higher the overall cost. It takes time and effort to arrive at a job site with equipment, so when professionals can consolidate more work hours at one location, they can usually offer lower rates.

For example, here are tiered prices for tile and grout cleaning based on size from Impressions Commercial Maintenance & Floor Care:

• Over 10,000 square feet: 25 cents per square foot
• 5,000-10,000 square feet: 39 cents per square foot
• Up to 5,000 square feet: 50 cents per square foot

Minimum service charge

Many floor cleaning companies will charge a minimum service fee, such as $150. This may seem excessive if you just have a tiny 2x2-foot entryway floor to clean, but the business must cover the time, labor and overhead required to arrive at a job site with all the appropriate equipment and a fully stocked truck even for the smallest job.

For example, Impressions Commercial Maintenance & Floor Care charges a $150 minimum fee. For a 200-square-foot tile floor, the cost per square foot would be $100 (200 x 50 cents), but to meet the minimum service requirement, the flat rate for that job would be $150.

Stairs

Stairs add to the overall cost of floor cleaning. Stairs often have to be hand-cleaned, which requires more effort and takes longer.

On average, Impressions Commercial Maintenance & Floor Care charges an average of $10 per tile stair for hand cleaning. So two flights of tile stairs with 10 steps each would cost $200.

After a professional cleans your floors, use the appropriate home cleaners on your floor in between cleanings. Harsh chemicals can damage natural stone, especially porous stone such as limestone or marble. Always follow your flooring pro's directions on which cleaning products to use and how often you should apply them to your floors.

Paying a professional to clean your floors may seem like an extravagance, but it is actually an investment in the value of your home. Good-looking floors have a great resale value, and even if you don't plan to sell, well-maintained floors last longer and can save you money in the long run.

Here are a few tips to help you hire a quality service provider who will do the job well.

• Look for a cleaning company that has proven experience successfully working with your type of flooring. The professionals can clean just one room in your home or an entire office building. 
• Lower prices for floor cleaning usually mean that fewer services are included. Make sure you understand the specific services included, and get everything in writing.
• A part-time cleaner with lower-end equipment can't deliver the same results as a full-time professional with the latest equipment. Compare not only the cost but the breadth of the service that will be provided.
• Always ask what is included in a cleaning. For example, does VCT cleaning include a strip and wax, or is it just a topcoat cleaning?
• Once you and the professional are in agreement, get a signed contract that outlines details.
• When requesting a quote for a home or office that has stairs, always let the pro know how many individual steps there are. Costs are based on the number of steps, not the number of flights.