We recently rearranged rooms upstairs in our house. My mother-in-law's bedroom which has carpet became the play room. My younger son's bedroom which has cork flooring became my mother-in-law's room. Right now my mother's elliptical machine is in her former room with the carpet. Now that it's the new playroom I'm having trouble keeping the kids off of it. I'm concerned that my kids or their friends will get hurt on it.

I'd like to move the elliptical into my mother-in-law's new room but I'm concerned about it damaging the floor. Will it damage the floor? It's really heavy and difficult to move without wheeling it. Do I need to protect the floor and, if so, is there any way to protect the floor under the machine without spending a ton of money?