I know what *I* would do (take advantage of his offer to do other work) because I know the scrapes would not bother me. If looking at them every day is going to bug the heck out of you, then it is a difficult call to make.

If it were me, I'd take him up on his (very) generous offer to "paint the kitchen/dining (which we were going to do to save money), tile the fireplace and hearth (which was going to be another one we would do or hire out later), and swap out several electrical outlets that need to be changed".

He sounds like a gem ;o)...you're very fortunate to have an honest contractor.

I agree with the other ladies --

a) He's an honest gentleman whose crew made a regrettable mistake. These things happen, and it's sadly rare when someone takes responsability.

b) He's offered you a nice 'reparation' package that has value to you. Take him up on it and give him a glowing reference.

The same thing happened to my floor - long grooves from the 'fridge on cardboard in a brand new floor. That was 10 years ago, and there has been absolutely no change in the grooves. They are invisible, even though they are about 18 inches long. It's not even a matter of ignoring them - you have to really look to see them.

My contractor offered to have them "fixed" but we opted not to. The fixer man said his fix would make the grooves even, but may darken over time faster than the surrounding wood.

I agree. Take him up on the other repairs.

Wow, I really applaud that honesty! Keep his number & use him often!

If it were me, I would take him up on the offer for other work. I can totally understanding wanting a perfect floor, but think of it this way. The first time you pulled your fridge out for cleaning behind it, you could very well cause the exact same damage... and would have had to do all that extra work yourself!

Also remember that things are uber visible now, because they're new and we're all looking for perfect. In two weeks, will you even notice the dents? Ever had horribly noticeable paint samples all over your wall that turn invisible to you eventually? :)

You mentioned that it's near the entrance from/to the mudroom--is it possible that you will throw down a little rug in that area?

I agree with the others here: Take him up on another repair, say a thank-you to whatever life force you believe in that you have an honest contractor who didn't just say, "Well, these things happen" and realize that nothing in that kitchen is going to remain perfect for long. (It took me a long time to let go of my perfectionism in my home!)

I'd take him up on his offer too. Depending on your life style it's hard to believe the floors will stay perfect anyway. In a year or two those little dents will have lots of company.

Take him up on his offer! Then you won't be worrying so much about getting your FIRST "ding/scratch" on your new floor. Kind of like getting that first ding on your new car in a crowded parking lot - you know it is going to happen sooner or later.

I would forget about the scratches and have him do the other work, too. Who knows how long your refer will last (or need repair - doesn't seem to be long between replacements these days) and chances are you could get grooves again when it is moved. Regardless of how careful people are, these things happen and they happened to my floor during a repair call. So you could go to all the trouble of a refinish and in a few years have the same thing happen. He sounds like a great guy.

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad to know I'm on the right track. I think we'll take the contractor up on his offer to do the painting for us instead of fix the floor. It'll be a day or two worth of his time and he won't be cash out of pocket and spend a week like he would be if he were to refinish the floor. Refinishing seems like a huge headache for both sides and major expense for the contractor when the payoff is so miniscule. And like lukk and maybe someone else said, we'll soon scratch the floor ourselves, I'm sure. At least now I won't feel so bad about it when I do!

When I told my husband this morning that this is the way I think we should go, I told him I want to make sure that not only do we walk away from this feeling good about the outcome, I want our contractor to feel good about working with us, too. I don't want him to feel like we had him over a barrel and took advantage. He obviously already feels just terrible, and I completely, totally understand mistakes. I make plenty of them myself.

And to all those who said we have a "gem," I agree. We didn't have any of the very common contractor problems we've experienced in the past. None of my cats escaped the house, the guys were there when they said they would be, they communicated all the time, and their work is high quality. All in all I'm happy and would gladly hire them again.

Thanks for the help!

Good choice. The floors are going to end up scratched anyway...if the finish isn't broken (and it doesn't sound as if it was) I wouldn't worry about it.

I ditto sweeby and think you made the right choice Kimberly. Bravo to both your contractor for being honest and you for not over reacting.

I think that you made the right choice. I would do the same unless the scratches were really noticeable and bothered me every time I looked at them.

I think that you made the right choice too and good for the contractor for being honest! :)

If you fix the floor, make sure it is done after all the other work is done. If you get someone who knows what they are doing, they can sand the dented places, steam up the dents, and use a product like Bona Kemi to refinish the spots and you can walk on it the next day. The trick is to find a real floor technician and not just some guy that throws a couple of coats of urethane on the floor but really doesn't know any more than that. For instance, most professionals would move a appliance across a floor with an appliance dolly. You might ask your GC why he didn't use one.

I've been living with scratches on my 4 year old hardwood floors. I can't believe how dumb some installers are. Ours didn't even put anything down when they brought the fridge in.

I'd take the offer on repairs. That's a deal!

You're lucky! Take the guy up on his offer. I just had a fridge delivered from National Appliance Centre (NCA) in Ottawa who's delivery guys dented my hardwood and just because I signed the document stating that the appliances were ok and did not see at the time how they dented my floor in 6 different places in a new home, they will not fix it. Lesson learned on this one. Never ever take the builder up on their offer when they include the appliances. They use NCA who have employees that have no clue what they are doing. The delivery guys actually tilted the fridge back and I yelled at them but they still did it. I wish I had of know to look at the floor but instead, I was excited for my new fridge.

My floors were dented by someone using a dolly. these are bona hd finished floors. you couldn’t see it at first until you look at a certain angle, so when moving any heavy appliances, be careful with wood floors.