Floor stain all over painted walls

Q: We just had the hardwood floors in our house refinished. After sanding the floors, the contractor applied the stain to the floors. However, we now have multiple stain spots on the walls (at different levels on the walls and not just at ground level) in those rooms. Is it expected that you will have stain on the walls and that you will have to repaint those walls after the contractor completes the refinishing job?

Or, should the contractor have put up some sort of protective covering along the walls to protect the walls from splatter during the application of the stain to the floors? The contractor is telling us that having the splatter on the walls is expected and that we should have known that we would have to have the rooms repainted after he was done with the floors.

A: When I stain floors, I caution the home owner that I can’t guarantee all stain will be kept off the quarter round. I apply the stain with a cloth. I can’t guarantee it even if I tape the quarter round, since the stain will hit the bottom edge of the tape and the tape will act as a blotter and suck stain up on both sides of the tape. But stain on the walls? No, that is not expected. It might happen on a spot by accident, but it is not usual if you are careful and know what you are working with.