It is traditional for many people to get a freshly cut Christmas tree for their home. Since hardwood floor is a fairly common upgrade, a good portion of folks will stand their tree and get it ready for display on the hardwood floor surface. Unfortunately, hardwood floors have many foes, and a freshly cut Christmas tree is one of them. Though you want to the advantages of the freshly cut tree, it is still important to protect your hardwood floors from the potential dangers live trees can pose. With that in mind, we at Mike’s Custom Flooring would like to list some tips to better preserve your hardwood floors during the holiday season.
How to Protect Hardwood Floors from Christmas Trees
Things You’ll Need
– Decorative tree skirt
– Dust broom, broom & dustpan or vacuum cleaner
– Extra large trash bag
– Plastic pitcher or watering can
– Plastic tablecloth
– Scissors
– Tree stand mat or a clean sheet (old one)
1) Plan where you want the tree, with your choice of implement (dust broom, soft bristle broom, or vacuum) clean the dirt, dust, and debris. Leaving the soil will cause the tree to grind into floor, leaving scratches and potential gouges.
2) Place a tree stand mat or fold an old sheet into a size slightly larger than the tree stand and arrange your choice in the spot where you want your tree to stand; set a tree stand accordingly.
3) With your scissors, cut the netting or twine to free your Christmas tree. (This might be better done a day before placement to give it the opportunity to spread out, but it is optional.)
4) Before bringing the tree into the house, give it a mild shake and use your fingers to comb through the branches; allowing the loose needles to fall.
5) Base of the tree first, slide the tree into the extra large trash bag and pull the sides up as far over the branches as it will go. Bring the tree inside, best with two people, and use the scissors the cut the bag off once you have it in close proximity to the stand. Slide the base in place and tighten the braces accordingly.
6) To remove the trash bag, one person can adjust the stands weight while the other slides the bag out, helping you avoid the scratches on the wood floor during setup.
7) Be sure to fill the base with water using your watering container.
8) With your decorative tree skirt, arrange it so none of the mat or sheet as well as the stand is showing.
9) Sweep or vacuum the floor around the tree, ensuring all of the needles are removed and follow the entire path from the door to the tree at bare minimum; doing the entire floor is optimal because the needles can scratch the hardwood floor surface.
10) When you discard the tree, siphon the water from the tree stand and remove the tree by wrapping the tree with a sheet to contain as much needles as possible.
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After the holidays have concluded, assess the floor. If scratches and scuffs are excessive, call in the experts of Mike’s Custom Flooring for hardwood floor repairs.
