u/HeavyBlues

New homeowner here. Just wanted a temperature check to see how reasonable this would be.

Basically, a shower overhaul upstairs took a few weeks of work. The contractor (very thoughtfully) put down a plastic tarp beforehand to protect my carpet from the workers' boots. After the work was done, however, the tarp was left behind and I had to remove it myself.

The tarp turned out to have an adhesive underside, and as I was slowly pulling it off, it began to rip the stair carpet off the tack, and a bit of the paint came off of the risers. The paint was an easy fix, but the carpet needed a pro to come in and re-seat it. Cost about $220 which is as cheap as it gets around here.

Ahead of the final invoice, would y'all consider it reasonable if a customer in this scenario asked you to reduce the final amount to account for the repair? To be clear, this is a responsible and competent contractor I've worked with before. I'm torn, since the tarp was something he set up on his own without me needing to ask, and I thought it was very considerate.

I won't have hard feelings either way. Just not sure how it would come across to someone in his line of work. Any advice is appreciated.

Edit: Adding some context from a comment:

The contractor had already moved onto another job for a little over a week before I removed the tarp (I kept it in place for a later job by an unrelated contractor). He didn't say anything about it beforehand, so I assumed it was safe to remove myself. I'm a first-timer at this whole home ownership gig, so I don't know all the ins-and-outs of liability.