How To Protect Hardwood Floors From A Christmas Tree

If you are like many people, then you love the smell of a live Christmas Tree. While we love the nostalgia that the smell brings, it also brings the possibility of damage to your hardwood floors if you are not careful. If you have hardwood floors then you already know that they tend to take a beating every holiday season.

The Christmas holiday season is by far the one you need to watch with an eagle eye. It is important to take the time to protect your hardwoods from a Christmas tree or several Christmas trees if you are opting to put up multiple trees. The old saying is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you are over the nostalgia of Christmas and simply want to skip all the fuss & mess, then you may want to bypass this altogether and simply purchase an artificial flocked Christmas tree that won’t leave pine needles on the floor.

protecting hardwood floors from christmas trees

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Doing a few precautionary steps will prevent disaster this holiday season and prevent you from having to repair, refinish or worst-case scenario, replace your hardwood floors due to water damage.

Here are a few tips and solutions on how to best protect your wood floors (even carpet floors) this holiday season. The old saying goes an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Many of the items listed can be found on Amazon. I’ve shared links to the various products.

Clean And Prepare Your Hardwood Floors

I highly suggest that you start this process right around Black Friday. You will want to thoroughly clean your floors with a hardwood vacuum or a vacuum that is designed to do both carpet and hardwood. Don’t forget to clean the floor with a microfiber mop and either Bona Hardwood Cleaner or Quick Shine floor cleaner designed to clean hard. Many families like to put their trees up right before or after Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Pro Tips

I suggest that you shake as many needles out from the tree prior to bringing it into the home
Have your guest leave their shoes at the front door. You can purchase these inexpensive shoe/foot coverings.

Prepare A Barrier To Protect The Floor

Take the time to set up your protective barrier and Christmas Tree stand prior to dragging the tree into the house.

I recommend using a plastic round drain tray that goes under a hot water heater (some people use the plastic rectangular drain trays used for washing machines). This will collect any overflow of water that may occur. Once you put down the drain tray, put the tree stand in place, then place a contractor’s large trash bag over the tree stand and put a small hole in it where the Christmas tree trunk will go through. Place the Christmas Tree skirt on top to cover up the drain pan and trash bag. No one will know that all of this is under the tree skirt. An alternative to the round pan is the square drain pan that normally goes under washers & dryers

Now may be a good time to go ahead and invest in a new tree stand. Live Christmas Trees typically do not come with a stand. The basic ones are not very sturdy

A Christmas Tree Mat is also a viable solution to ensure that your hardwood floors do not get damaged. It’s simple and easy to use. It can be used on both hardwood and carpets. It will prevent water that has been spilled from soaking into your carpet or hardwood floors. It also serves as protection to keep the stand from scratching your floors. You can use it with either hardwood floors or carpeted floors

Once you have the live Christmas Tree in your home, please implement these tips to prevent any damage from occurring.

1. Place The Tree Stand On A Protective Barrier

I’ve provided you with two solid preventive measures that will protect your floors from water damage.

2. Avoid Over Filling With Water

Water is the main culprit of damage that occurs to hardwood floors during the Christmas season. If you have a live tree, you must take precautions to ensure that you don’t damage your floors. Over-filling from watering the tree is the #1 issue

3. Maintaining Your Christmas Tree

This is an important step. You don’t want your tree to dry out and catch fire from the lights. Take the time to vacuum around your tree and get up all the fallen pine needles. Pine needles are enemies when it comes to your floors. They can scratch up your floors in conjunction with all the increased traffic your floors get over the holidays. I think 2 or 3 times per week will suffice. If you need a cleaner, I recommend Quick Shine and a microfiber mop.

Don’t forget to keep your tree hydrated, this will help to ensure that all the pine needs don’t end up on your floor. I recommend Miracle-Gro Special Tree Blend to reduce needle drop. Everything can be found on Amazon.

4. Removing The Tree And Cleaning Up

protecting wood floors from a christmas tree

Remember in the above step where I told you to place a contractor size trash bag on the base of the tree. This makes clean-up super easy and quick. Once you have removed your decorations and lights, just pull the bag up over the tree. It’s helpful to have two people helping. Unscrew the trunk of the tree from the base and be careful with the water tray. If you do spill water, blot it up quickly to prevent any unnecessary water stains. Just carry the tree out the door inside of the bag and place it with your lawn & garden pick-up. Most municipalities have designated days for Christmas Tree recycling. Do not place the Christmas Tree in the regular trash.

After your tree is removed, then go back and do a thorough cleaning of your hardwood floors with both your vacuum and microfiber mop. I love my Dyson as it has a hardwood floor feature built-in.

Final Thoughts On Protecting Your Wood Floors When You Have A Christmas Tree

I hope that these tips are helpful and beneficial. Don’t overthink the process. Doing a little bit of extra work up-front will save your hardwood floors from damage. Be Blessed and have an awesome holiday season.