Tenants stained new epoxy garage flooring - can we charge for th?

[Taylor Martel]

We have a larger rental home in TX that was built 2017. In August 2018, we had epoxy flooring installed in the 3 car garage. In November we vacated the property and had the place professionally cleaned. Property was vacant between Nov-March. Tenants moved in in March at which point the garage floor was in pristine condition. They just moved out and left multiple large stains on the garage floor that a power washer couldn't get out. They look kind of like rust or some sort of chemical. The professional power washer said they might be oil as well. Looks like they disposed of whatever the chemical was in the trash bin,  and put the bin on the concrete driveway where it leaked further creating another dark stain that the power washer also couldn't get out. They also left the house extremely dirty and neglected the landscaping to the point where it cost $500 for cleanup labor,  sod replacement,  and mulch to be installed. We found several spots in the master bedroom where they had stained the carpet (about 1/4 of the room) with some type of light purple substance. They were only there a year and 3 months and the carpet is less than 5 years old. 

We were planning on charging them for 1/2 the cleaning,  the yard maintenance minus the mulch cost,  and the carpet replacement. 

What we are unsure about is the garage floor. I mean it was beautiful before they moved in and now has large stains all over it - the estimate to redo the epoxy will be a few thousand. I don't see this as normal wear and tear and am wondering what other experienced landlords think or if anyone's had any similar experiences. 

FYI - unfortunately, we don't have a before pic of the garage floor but it was installed 8/18 and lived in until 11/18 and then no one lived in the house between 11/18-3/19. The conditions form they filled out doesn't list any stains on the garage floor. 

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Kyle J.]

If it were me, I wouldn't charge them for the garage floor.  It sucks, I know, because I'm sure it looked great before they moved in.  However, if cleaning it didn't work and the only option left is to completely redo the floor at a cost of a "few thousand dollars", I don't see any judge anywhere thinking that is reasonable if your previous tenants were to object and take you to court (and they almost certainly will).  

Plus, in my experience, this is just one of those things that happens with rentals.  It's even harder when it's a home you used to live in.  You have a really nice home that you used to live in and you want all your tenants to keep it as nice as when you lived there.  However, that's not going to happen and the sooner you start thinking about it as a rental as opposed to your previous family home, the easier this will get (I speak from experience).  

Ultimately, I don't think a few stains on the floor of the garage is going to affect the rentability of the home.  So personally I'd just try cleaning it as good as I could, and then I'd let it go.  (For what it's worth, I bet future tenants still think it looks better than the garage floors in most of the other rentals.)