Moisture in what? The texture? The paint? I can't see it a valid reason for the drywall mud, that's for sure. If there is a recess in the seams where there wasn't enough mud applied because they skipped a coat or whatever, that recess is going to be there forever. Usually you can feel it with your hand.

I wasn't able to touch it (too high) supposedly it feels flat and they took a level to the line and it is level with the rest of the ceiling.

Forgot to add it sounds like the builder is saying the seams need to dry out?

Why would the seams be wet? Did they not give the new mud adequate dry time before painting?

I have no idea, builder told is to wait over the weekend and let it try and there was no change. Builder had HVAC hook up AC yesterday to "dry" it out.

There is an orange peel texture on the walls and ceilings. They sprayed a primer and then one coat of paint. My husband thinks they diluted the paint too much. I think it may be a primer issue based on what I have read online.

i am looking for more information before meeting with the builder so we can fix it correctly rather than trying a bunch of different things as the floors, cabinets, etc are being installed. As it is now all the recessed light trim has been installed and we will have to work around this.

Work around this? I hope that means removing all the recessed light trim when they repaint!

Update- Our builder will have the ceilings rolled to try and fix the issue. Expressed concern that primer should be used, will keep you posted on what happens.

You could ask him about the products and brands of paint that he will be using. If it were me, I would consider paying extra to "upgrade" the paint and primer so that I could be certain of the quality.

They are using the same paint we had in our last house which a lot of painters in our area like, Hallman Lindsey. They may have watered it down or not sprayed it thick enough on the ceiling. The builder promisee it will get fixed even if he has to bring in a professional painter.

They put mud over some of the seams, very worried about how this is going to play out. Seams will have to be sanded, retextured and painted on a large cathedral and flat kitchen ceiling. In the mean team they left our doors open all night after changing the air conditioning to heat (which doesn't work because we don't have narural gas hooked up yet). The hardwood flooring guys came this morning to start installing and can't because the humidity was too high due to these yahoos. Not a great day.

Sounds like the GC needs replaced while your at it.

Oh man does this story bring back memories from my new construction days. I worked for some good GC's too, but sometimes it's just hard to find good help as they say.

^^ that's why I just say no to nc work

"The builder promises it will get fixed even if he has to bring in a professional painter."

What has he been using for painters?!

"The hardwood flooring guys came this morning to start installing and can't because the humidity was too high due to these yahoos. Not a great day."

I wouldn't be too unhappy about that. I'd want the ceiling issues taken care of before the floors were installed, especially given the general sloppiness of the painters so far.

Many drywall and texture outfits also do the priming. Many of these companies are not specializing in painting, so they often use the wrong/inferior products and do a crappy job with the application.

That happened to me last year. A real mess to get fixed. I'm still going to have to repaint the whole interior properly at some point.

Yikes jn! Right now we are looking at what other options we might have to cover the mess up like a thin coffered ceiling in the kitchen and perhaps some faux beams in the cathedral. Did your ceiling seams get corrected?

The wood guys are starting installation today. They will cover the floors with paper when they are completed. Our cabinets are being delivered today as well. All the doors and trim work was delivered last week, we made the poor guy haul it all back out the garage when he stacked it in the great room because we didn't want it the thin coat of drywall and paint to get on it. I just keep telling myself to take deep breaths, deep breaths!

Yes, eventually the ceiling got fixed. Bottom line - primer was not applied consistently. Then the attempt to fix the mudding on 2 patches where lights were incorrectly installed added to the misery. When all was said and done, the entire ceiling was repainted with a flat lower quality paint (Promar 400) which helped to even it all out.

I was looking at it this morning...it's OK. But not perfect. Don't get me started on the walls.

Good luck.

Update- the "fix" didn't work. It now looks like a horrible patch job with more damage done to other parts of the ceiling, ugh. Very upset with our builder, he is giving this Yahoo "one last chance" to fix. In the meantime tile floor is in and grouted, cabinets are installed, granite is scheduled to be installed on Wed along with the appliances but the ceiling still has to be dealt with.

Ouch! You may wish to point out to the builder how much he's 'saved' by using bargain paint and bargain labor. What a disaster.