Plumbing company damaged stairs. Contractor refusing to match wood/stain/colour. What are my rights?

A plumbing company damaged the stairs in my parents’ raised rancher while carrying a water heater down to the lower level. They accepted responsibility and offered to pay for repairs. They also suggested a flooring contractor, and I agreed to use them.

The contractor came to assess the damage and said the gouges in the treads couldn’t be properly filled, so the treads would need to be replaced. She also said that both sets of stairs (the ones going up and the ones going down from the landing) should be replaced so they match.

I scheduled the work for this week. When they arrived, I found out they planned to:

- Replace only the damaged set of stairs

- Use a wood/finish that matches the banister, not the existing stairs

- Leave the undamaged stairs as-is, even though they would now be a different wood and colour

- Leave the original stringers, which also wouldn’t match

The contractor told me he cannot match the existing stairs because they are Douglas fir with a high‑gloss finish. He said Douglas fir is too expensive and that he won’t install a high‑gloss finish because it would be “a liability” due to slipperiness. He also said the plumbing company is being “very generous” by replacing the stairs at all, and that normally I’d only get $300–$400 in compensation. He added that I would “lose in Small Claims Court,” even though I never mentioned court — I was just trying to understand what they were offering.

His “best offer” is to replace only the damaged stairs with a different wood/colour, and if I want the other set to match, I can pay an extra $900 plus additional costs to paint the stringers.

A few things feel off to me:

- He’s giving legal opinions about what I’d get in Small Claims Court

- He’s refusing to match the original materials/finish even though the damage wasn’t my fault

- The house has a small landing with stairs going up and down, so mismatched stairs would clearly affect appearance and potentially resale value

- My understanding is that if a contractor damages something, they’re responsible for restoring it to its previous condition. If they can’t match the original, then replacing both sets of stairs seems like the only way to restore the appearance.

My plan is to go back to the plumbing company directly, since they’re the ones who accepted responsibility.

My questions:

1. In Ontario, is the responsible party required to restore the property to its previous condition (or as close as reasonably possible)?

2. If the original materials/finish can’t be matched, does that strengthen the argument that both sets of stairs need to be replaced to achieve that?

3. Is it normal or appropriate for the contractor to tell me what I’d “get in court” or that I should accept mismatched stairs?

4. What is the best way to approach the plumbing company to resolve this fairly