If the GC didn’t hire the painter, then it spossible whoever did hire the painter is responsible for the coordination between what the GC would do, and the painter’s scope of work.

You said, "Painter said he would skim and then paint." That is very odd! Skimming is usually the work of the team that installs the drywall - while skimming may look easy, doing it seamlessly takes skill. And I can't believe a painter would be skilled at it. Did you tell the contractor not to skim based on what the painter said? If so, your beef with with your painter. That said, it's totally fixable. Have a professional drywaller skim. Then have a professional painter prime and repaint.

Thank you for the replies. I hired the painter.

Sammie, no, I did not tell GC not to skim. He just said that's for the painter to do and left it unfinished. So I hired a painter who said he'd skim. He didn't and then blamed the GC. (Painter also did a terrible job otherwise so I do not want him back, nor would be willing even if I did.) So the question now is how to fix it. I will have to pay so it's not a question now of cost or blame it's how to fix it. Are you saying it's OK to skim over the new paint. So, it would be sheetrock (or whatever it is) covered by paint covered by skimming then covered by paint. Will the skimming stick to the new paint since it's supposed to go over the drywall/sheetrock? Thank you.

Probably fine to go right over. Unless they used high gloss oil... worst case the wall could be primed then skimmed.

At this point you probably need a drywall contractor to come out and skim the wall, and then a painter.

I am curious as to what is on your wall. Drywall is not gray, it is white. Please ask the contractor what that stuff is, just for curiosity. Yes, it can be skimmed now, get a skilled drywall contractor to take care of it, and once that is done, it needs a coat of primer, before it is painted, and 2 coats of paint.

Thanks. I don't know what the wall is. No, doesn't look like that white drywall. It was definitely a dark gray crumbly board, smelled strong when I saw it leaning up in a room before installing. Thanks for the replies.

The hazards of being your own GC and hiring everyone separately is that you don't know when a lowball hack is lying to you. The drywall "professional" should be the one to hang, tape, and finish the drywall. That isn't the painter's job. You need better trades for both. I would not have either of them back in my house.

I know. You are right Greendesigns. But now I don't know what to do. I want it done right and don't know if I have to completely start over or if working with what is there is fine. I don't want a 'band aid' job or something that isn't right. Very upset. Thanks.

Dark gray crumbly board? Did they put up cement board/Durock instead of drywall??

Yes, that Durock sounds familiar. I think that was it.

Thanks Jan Moyer. I could probably get the GC back but they may or may not do anything. I just want it done right from this point onward and I don't know what that is. But the comments here are very helpful. I guess I was wondering if I'd have a bigger mess if I had skimming done over the new paint? Sounds like no?

Why on earth would they use durock for a painted wall? That’s a tile backer board.

Did they say why they used cement board instead of regular drywall on room/surface that isn’t going to be tiled? I could be missing something but usually durock is put up when tile is going to be applied, not when a surface is going to be painted.

Durock on a to be painted wall makes no sense. Drywall sheets cost less and are a lot easier to cut and fasten. Also doesn't make sense that the contractor taped the seams of Durock. That would be something the tile guy does. Did a major communication break down happen here?

The GC is lying to you. The Drywall guys do the taping and skimming, not the painter. The painter is presented with paint-ready walls.

Not sure why the walls are dark gray - sounds like they are using cement board, which is tile backer board. Not dry wall, which is what you paint.

It's fine to hire trades yourself, but you need to know what you are doing, which is the only way you will know if they are doing it right. Not hard today, with the internet.

Do you ha e pictures after it was hung? Taped? Drywall is a light gray, but backer board is more medium gray.

You can SKIM over tape and the fact that there is paint on the whatever you have? Makes no difference. You need a drywall guy, and a new painter and possibly a GC You have hacks for all three. What room is this?

Drywall. The writing is on the edges.

Cement board. The writing is on the face.

Thanks. Now I don’t know what it is. Will try to find out. It’s in the kitchen and adjacent bathroom.

You don't need three new guys, you just need one competent person who cares about the result. A good small jobs person would do both parts of the work himself and not spend time pointing fingers.

In my area, most smaller remodel jobs do not hire a separate drywall crew. The real problem around here is finding good tapers who will work small jobs. My partner does the taping for a few friends because he is good and reasonably quick but turns down most opportunities unless he does the painting as well.

While it is true that many painters can't do good wall prep, the guys who are good at the mud work are painters who have learned to do their own prep work. Those are the good guys to hire because they will do whatever it takes to get the final surface looking right or tell you they don't want the job if they can't produce a good result.

Any painter who finish coated a wall that obviously had not been prepped would not be working with us again. I want someone who is on the phone to the boss and saying the site isn't ready for paint so am I doing the prep or am I leaving?

What other jobs did you have this company do? Nothing else but put up a wall? Nothing involving a wet area like a shower, right?

If the waterproofing is as "good" as the drywall? She will be BACK : ( I don't know if "adjacent bathroom" means powder room, or a wet bath

You really see some crazy stuff on Houzz from time to time.

Like usual a lot of bad info from the so called pros. You can't skim over non mudded taped seams if it is drywall. Mud is applied beneath the tape, tape is embedded in the mud and then skimmed over. By the way depending on location of wall they have to be mudded and taped per code. How do you now sand walls with latex paint? Adnesion?, Etc???

Are these real plaster walls where they were applying a skim coat to match existing walls?

ITS THE PAINTERS FAULT WHAT UNEDUCATED IDIOT PAINTS OVER A SURFACE Like THAT WITHOUT SAYING HEY!!!, THIS IS WRONG!!!

We keep hiring these uneducated, non licensed, probably illegal, so called workers and them expect quality work. Its an insult to real painters. No buying paint from HD and slapping it on your wall does not make you a painter. It truly is an insult to think you can easily do the job of a skilled worker who is educated in their field. It takes skill and education to know what products work in relation to each other.

Instead of guessing and getting into all these what if debates OP take picture of what you have.

following..

She said......... It was taped, no skim. I suppose he glued tape on with what????

"Contractors put up two new walls in our house and left the finishing to the painter, including skimming." As in, contractor(s)=carpenter(s) put up two new walls? I am not hearing, in this convo, about the General Contractor, who would be responsible for executing the entire job.

Guessing there was no GC. So, every man for himself.

Yeah, sometimes painters do the skim, sometimes they do a lot more. I’ve had painters who do finish carpentry and drywall repair. At the very least, the painter should have said “it’s not ready to paint”. I cannot wait to see photos of this.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm trying to find out whether the surface of the walls was Durock or drywall. But last I saw the new unfinished walls, they had seam tape and there were white blotches so I think there was some blotching of the tape with a material. Over or under the tape, I don't know. But most of the surface was exposed and untreated with skimming or mudding or anything like that. I don't have any photos of the surfaces before they were painted. I can't take photos tonight as I'm not living there at the moment. But everywhere you can see the mesh pattern of the tape thru the paint. And it's uneven in spots and a some places you can see what look like small craters (like on the moon) where the paint has sunk into the wall material, whatever that is. At this point, there's no point in dwelling on blame because I don't want the painter back and the GC will just point out that they said they were leaving the skimming to whatever painter we hired. And at this point I just want to know how this can best be fixed so I can hire someone to fix it. So I appreciate all the advice you guys are offering. It is a General Contractor, not a single carpenter, who put up the walls. One of the walls has a shower on the other side. The other walls do not. So that's why there was Durock in the house, they used it for the shower. But I don't know if they also used it for the walls or if they used sheetrock. The small section of wall with a shower on the other side has wood in between that wall (the shower wall) and the wall on the other side, which is the kitchen.

Without you knowing what was done or pictures to tell the story to help show what happened it’s hard for anyone here to say conclusively what needs to be done and/or whether what was done is fixable or not. I suppose you can ask the GC some of the questions that people have posed here to try and determine what was done and if that is sufficient enough to keep what’s there or if you need a tear out and rebuild by a reputable and experienced drywall person. Take pictures of what the “painter” did and the results and file a complaint against his license (if he’s licensed/insured). I’d also think twice about continuing with the GC you’re working with since he doesn’t seem concerned about helping ensure the project is completed correctly and instead is content with just saying “it wasn’t me” and cashing your checks.

If that GC has anything to do with a shower, you can be certain that it wasn't done correctly either. That means leaks and mold.

The Durock / cement board would go on the shower side and drywall on the not the shower side wall not both.. splotches? of mud are to cover the drywall screws and then mud/tape/mud at seams - then it’s all feathered out for a smooth finish to be painted - was it supposed to be a textured wall? Yes you can paint directly on drywall as long as it’s skimmed out and sanded at mudded sections to a smooth finish - primer and 2 coats of paint.. some skim coat the entire walls & some don’t.. whoever did the mud & the taping was supposed to feather it out ready for paint..

can you just post some pictures?

If it is rough feeling, gray and has Durock on it, it's cement board. it's not mean to be painted. tile usually goes on it.

if it's drywall, it will be a grayish/white,with large swaths of tape on the seams. anyone who hangs drywall knows they have to skim coat, let it dry, and then sand to get a nice smooth, flat surface. Then it MUST have a coat of primer to seal the surface. otherwise, you'll never hide the tape seams and you'll use twice as much paint.

does it look like this:

Or this?:

drywall guys are artists, if they're good. Who the hell hangs drywall and then says a painter will skim it? Most painters don't do drywall. It's a skilled profession. I mean, I have a guy that actually does both, but he's really good. after 35 years, he should be.

Hopeless to even guess at this point as OP doesn't know what she doesn't know. Apparently not even knowing that 'drywall' and 'sheet rock' are interchangeable terms.

She may even be confusing what was installed in one room with what was installed in another room...because I can't imagine any contractor installing Durock where cheaper sheetrock will serve. Mesh tape/ different types, though, can be used on both materials.

Obviously, if a mesh pattern is showing on a painted wall, the wall was not ready for paint. Again, why mesh tape when paper tape is a lot cheaper? Perhaps the wall was supposed to be textured & something go lost in communication. Or assumed that it would be tiled? Who knows....Not OP and we sure as heck don't have enough info to make an educated guess.

Since she hired the painter separately, for all we know, she may have told the contractor 'I just want you to build the wall; I will finish it.' Again, not knowing what she didn't know.

Nina - I haven't read through all the responses, so someone may have already mentioned this to you. Do you think the gray, smelly, crumbly wall you speak of be backer board?

Nina- If you want helpful info, you need to post pictures. You're unfamiliar with the terminology, and what is correctly done and what's not, and what to expect. Without pictures, a lot of this is just speculation. However, I can say one thing: if it's backer board, it shouldn't be particularly smelly and definitely not crumbly.

Kudzu - I know this is off topic, but my husband and I saw a large stack of backer boards at a large chain store and they were def. dark, smelly, with a crumbly feel...

Nina - the best thing to do is call a licensed company (not an individual) that has staff that do both drywall and paint so they can work together - have them come out to look and give you advice / estimate to correct what has been done - call a few companies if possible and ask for references and photos of their work. since you have no idea what went on and the GC and painter are not going to sort this out this is probably the best thing for you to do..

Nina-

Are you sure you know what backer board is? If you saw dark, smelly crumbly material it was not backer board. Backer board is usually light gray and looks slightly rough, but there is no way you are going to crumble it. Typically, backer board is made of fiber-reinforced, cement that is used for shower and bath installations. It's very rigid and very strong and is installed with special screws. It is about twice as heavy as sheetrock and more expensive. Why anyone would install it where it was not needed is beyond me. Selecting backer board

Hi Cl lantro, Thank you. No, I didn't ask the GC not to finish it. Instead, the GC said they wouldn't finish it but would leave that to the painter. But here we're getting into blame which, while tempting, serves no purpose really in my efforts to figure out what to do now. So I told the painter it needs to be skimmed and finished and he said he'd do that. But then did not. So, again, need to figure out what to do. I will try to get photos today since several of you very kind posters have said that's needed.

It's true, I am unfamiliar with the terms here. And the materials. I don't know what the wall is. Probably drywall/sheet rock. But wondering if it was the Durock. But either way, it was not skimmed and now what to do. I think it's clear from the comments (which I'm very appreciative for) that I need to call a drywall person and then have him/her either paint after the skimming or then call a separate painter. I think my biggest question was is it OK to skim a wall that's already been painted in error since the bare new wall should have been skimmed first.

VERY few excellent drywall guys will want to paint. It doesn't MATTER if the wall has been painted. You are hung up on this. The wall needs, mud, tape, skim. primer, paint. In that order, And it is going to need both trades for the work.

You do not have "damaged" walls, you have ugly UNFINISHED walls.

Yep. Situation is totally salvageable per loads of advice above. Drywall guys are pricy though. The estimates We received blew our minds. $6k to do 2/3 of a 1700 square foot home.

Weirdly, the 1960-build home we just bought was drywalled throughout with cement board. We’ve demo’d Several rooms now and it’s everywhere. It’s peculiar AF. Also Sheetrock also comes in purple if you use the more expensive, water resistant variety. ;)

Yes, it's fine to finish the drywall even though it's been painted. Also, it doesn't need to be skimmed over the entire surface, just the seams and holes where the screws are. It's perfectly normal for the first coat to look like crap too. They put the mud down on the seam, embed the tape in the mud and then lightly skim over that with a blade. The purpose of the first coat is just to get the tape on. Successive coats after that, the mud is floated over the seam and tape wider. Whoever did your drywall just did the first coat and left. They didn't do anything wrong. They just didn't finish the process.

I wonder if it is a generational thing or regional about painters doing drywall work. I am in an area with a large part of the housing is pre 1960 with lathe and plaster walls. Some buildings like my current house had 2 x 4 sheets of cement based plaster backing board, locally called rock lathe. I wonder if that is the product Allison is describing in her house.

People over 50 grew up working with plaster walls and there was usually always some patchwork to do before paint. As the youngest on the site, my partner mixed endless amounts of durabond for the crew. As drywall became more popular, patching was done with premixed materials and the younger generation did not learn the older techniques.

In this area, drywall crews and tapers work on large jobs. If you called a drywall company about skimming out a couple walls, you would probably get laughed at and told to find a painter or just hung up on. My suggestion is to go to a traditional paint store, during mid day when the store is not busy. Talk to the staff there and explain your situation and ask them for recommendations. Look for the old timer running the place, not the counter staff. In my experience, the older guys chat with their regular customers and know who might be interested in a small job or will ask around and get you some suggestions.

@Nina Dempster - hello Nina - i am chiming in once again - i am having my house remodeled - we had drywall guys in to install drywall only as we reframed a few walls (bathroom, laundry and living room) and they did not do the mud or taping for us.. they just installed it.. my old school painter did all the mud and taping, sanding, feathering out, texture, primer & paint (except for the shower as the tiler did the cement board and tile on the shower walls); my uncle was also painter for 50 years - he did everything from drywall up to the finish paint on the walls with his crew (each member had a different job).. it really depends who you find, how much experience they have, etc. it is true you need to find someone of the older generation who is experienced to come in and fix the walls; ask for photos and references.

We're all speculating here without actual pictures. But I'll chime in anyway. :-))

Three things caught my eye in the OPs original post.

1. She can see the texture of the drywall.

2 She can see the tape (what she calls tape - I believe she's referring to what's called joint telegraphing or photographing).

3. The wall was finished with eggshell.

Pure speculation here, but I think the walls were probably finished properly to a Level 4 standard which doesn't include skim coating the entire wall. You will see texture differential between the drywall paper face texture and the smooth joint compound areas that have been floated and sanded. That texture differential gets minimized and goes away with subsequent build of finish coats of paint applied to the appropriate mil thickness.

A Level 5 finish provides the most uniform surface and minimizes the possibility of joints photographing through the final finish. This level is recommended where the best paint finish is required, such as under critical lighting conditions or when paints that have a glossy surface are used. Finishing to a Level 5 is not the typical norm in residential construction. It takes more time and greater skill and requires the entire wall be skim coated.

The OP also mentions she can see the tape. In addition to a texture differential between the drywall paper face and joint compound, because an eggshell finish was chosen, she's probably also seeing a sheen differential in the taped areas versus the drywall paper face areas. Priming or sealing the walls before top coating is the best way to avoid this. There are huge debates that rage about what's the best primer or should you use a sealer like Gardz. I'm not going to get into that here. But if the OP is correct, and all the drywall received was 2 coats of BM eggshell, that's part of the problem.

Other than sheen, the OP also doesn't mention the color or the lighting conditions. Along with chosen sheen, deeper colors tend to highlight surface imperfections. Also walls and ceilings in areas with lots of light (natural or artificial) hitting at an angle, long hallways, and tall atrium walls again can accentuate the surface imperfections.

Some of these issues are more prevalent today due to the phase out of alkyd enamel undercoaters which were high build, masked minor surface imperfections, filled the paper texture in and sanded smooth like butter.

Like everyone else, I'm waiting to see the OPs photos.

Agree...without photos, and without the OP able to reliably explain what's going on, there's a lot of speculation here (mine included) that might not even turn out to be on point.

missenigma, Thank you for pointing out the differences. You are absolutely correct that Level 4 is the norm for residential construction and that Level 5 (skim coating) is a higher standard. So yes, sheetrock can be installed and painted without being skim coated. In our area, a consumer would have to ask for Level 5 specifically and would pay considerably more for it.

And to address a lot of misconceptions, many painters do the finish coat on drywall (and do the skim coat for Level 5 if you pay for it) rather than the sheetrock guys. The painters tend to be more detailed oriented and careful and do a better job. In our case, there is a crew that specifically hangs drywall (they do not finish) then a separate crew of drywall finishers come in to apply the tape and cover and feather out the tape joints. They come back a second time to sand and recoat the tape joints. The painters are the ones that do the final sanding of the drywall, fix any areas that need further attention (skim coat if you have paid for that upgrade) and then prime and paint.

Drywall isn't white/white. It will appear grayish in comparison to the joint compound.

Drywall finish levels are pretty much standard across the country with consensus coming from these trade groups: Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry (AWCI), Ceiling & Interior Systems Construction Association (CISCA), Drywall Finishing Council (DWFC), Gypsum Association (GA), and Painting and Decorating Contractors of America (PDCA).

National Gypsum, USG, Certainteed - their published standards for finish levels are consistent.