"Can we argue that texture wasn’t specified and request at least level 4 finish?"

You can and he can argue that smooth was not specified either. You need to find out what your options are with the current GC as he may still be entitled to his money if you go outside your contract. What type of contract do you have?

You're right, textured drywall is going to look wrong. You need a plasterer that can do a smooth coat. Does this contractor have experience with old houses, seems obvious that texture would be all wrong.

I used to live in the SF Bay Area, texture was common. Are you able to find a local plasterer who can work to your standards.

@millworkman what do you mean by type of contract?

@raye he was on a list of recommended contractors we got from a local realtor who sells a lot of homes like ours.

@jim I’d have to look around, I’m not sure.

I am from the west coast and in many areas the walls are textured, either really heavy or that orange peel texture. Here in the mid- west smooth is the default. Our daughter just bought her first place on the East coast and every home she looked at had smooth walls. Start googling until you find someone that offers smooth you won’t regret it.

I would want the sheetrock smooth too. It sounds a bit though, that the drywall crew he has, doesnt really know how to do smooth. Maybe let him install all the drywall, and then get another crew in to do the finishing.

Your contingency is already gone, and you’re hung up on doing an expensive upgrade outside the norms of your location? Where are you getting the extra 20K to finish this project? If you have the money to upgrade, then you tell him to find a crew who does plaster. If you don’t, then it’s a moot point. You cannot make a contractor upgrade you for free.

Celadon I never realized smooth walls were considered an “expensive upgrade”. I’ve never owned a home and my husband inherited this house. All I’ve ever known growing up is houses with smooth walls, so to me it’s the norm.
Not sure where you’re coming up with a number like 20k from either. Is that your estimation of what it would cost to do this?

I just feel like textured walls will look very out of place in an almost 100 year old house. This contractor has been in business for 30+ years. Was it unreasonable of me to expect in the beginning for him to say “hey I only do textured walls, are you guys ok with that”? Apparently.

I’m not a contractor. Never remodeled to the extent you are, but even I know smooth walls are a huge added expense. I think this is really on you, unfortunately.

I’m guessing who you hired is not some high end, historical restoration type person. And that may have cost a lot more. Smooth walls take a really experienced sub, as would many historical renovations, or any renovation that wants specific upgrades. If you sign a contract for a new roof, you better specify many things about that new roof, or you will get the cheapest. Same with paint. There’s crappy cheap paint, and velvety expensive paint. Same with everything about home renovations.

However, in your place, I’d just do textured walls, and save to have them done smooth later. It isn’t a tragedy, and if the contractor is otherwise doing good work, I’d say you’re doing fine for a first project. Live and learn, do more research.

Btw, I’m in So Cal too, and contracting and home improvement prices are through the roof!! Contractors are few and far between, what with the boom in construction after the fires, and pent up demand from people spending more time at home who can finally put effort into fixing things up.

A clear and comprehensive set of plans and specifications is important to avoid situations like you find yourself in. That said, I would expect the default wall finish to be whatever is usually done in homes similar to yours (size, style, price point) in your local area.

So to be more clear here in the mid-west smooth is not an upgrade. Not sure how big your home is and where the number $20,000 came from, but our current home is about 3800 sq feet and the drywall renovation budget was less than $30,000. The one factor in smooth vs textured that I am aware of is the drywall must be installed with a little more care screws sunken corners tight. Like body work on a car every blemish will show if the base is not smooth.

Yeah, but this is So Cal where in many neighborhoods a million $$ gets you a starter home. Contractors are very expensive, and orange peel texture is normal, even in $1.5M tract homes.

Not sure about the OPs neighborhood, tho.

Raye that’s my point exactly. It’s in a historical neighborhood which the contractor is well aware of and has required specific finishes to be in line with the requirements of the historical zone in LA. We even had his crew save the original moldings to reinstall and repaired what original windows we could instead of replace. It seems a bit ridiculous that he would think an orange peel texture would make sense in this home.

If the historical zone requires proper finishes he should know that and there should have been no question about this. Do you have a copy of the requirement to show him? That should resolve any issues.

Raye:

Plastering is essentially obsolete technology. Yes, drywall is more flat than the undulations of plaster and lath, but it's much faster and therefore cost effective. Historic districts require exterior preservation.

Michelle:

If you've got your heart set on smooth, and I think that's the right call, add to your contingency, please. Money comes and goes, but you're going to be staring at these walls a long time. You can't replace a roomful of regret with a fat checkbook.

Joseph, my contractor has a plasterer and he did a wonderful job on an addition in my house. He has even recreated missing portions of ornamental plaster for other clients. One thing I learned about plastering is it is produces a lot of heat as it cures.

Michelle, I agree that, in this home, walls need to be smooth, and agree that you should spend the extra money to have them done properly now. You’ll be looking at them for a long long time.
I live in a 100 year old Craftsman home in Northern California. Orange peel would not look right at all.

Plastering is all but a lost art. There are two locations in the country where several workman can be found that do plaster, and that’s New England and SoCal. It’s a huge cost upgrade to standard drywall in both locations. Smooth drywall isn’t even a blip in the cost comparison upgrade charges when compared to plaster.

If you’re going to try to be a restorationist, you’re going to have to come up with a bigger budget for everything. Then you’ll need to learn enough about how the work was done historically in order to specify a contract properly, and vet a potential contractor. That’s the big disconnect here. Assumptions, and a badly specified contract, with a production contractor, not the 3x as expensive restoration it’s contractor. If it isn’t in writing, with drawings, it does not happen.

Or, learn to DIY. That’s how most people with old houses keep them going and looking appropriate. They DIY. Lots of FB restoration groups to help with that.

First question I have is what was the finish on the walls which were removed during the renovation? If the preexisting walls were smooth, that contractor was making a major assumption that the customer would be OK with orange peel texture for his wall finish. If that is the case, the contractor did a very poor job of setting his customer's expectations as to the exact work to be done.
I agree that the customer should have detailed specs for all the major and minor aspects of the project. However, the contractor needs to make an effort to share realistic expectations with the customer about the process and the end product which will be delivered. Whenever the current standard product doesn't match the preexisting one, a good contractor will discuss the differences up front to discover how much the customer values originality. At that point, the contractor can price the work to cover the additional costs or declare that the project will be done to current standards and walk away if the customer's expectation are unrealistic.

I'm in the midwest and smooth drywall is the expected finish in our area, however that is a good level 4 finish, not the complete skimcoat of a level 5 finish. Some of the bungalows in my area have smooth plaster but a sand finish plaster is also common. A few of the more expensive homes of the era had a troweled plaster texture that is more like a venetian plaster. So, smooth walls are not the only historically appropriate wall texture.

Plastering isn't a lost art, I live in a little town and have no problem finding craftsmen that still plaster.

Joseph you’re correct that the historical board only dictates exterior finishes, nothing interior. But we did specifically request to save the nearly 100 year old door & window moldings and repeatedly stated we wanted to maintain some of that original charm.

I wholly understand that the contractor we hired is not a restorationist and there’s a difference between the two. We chose not to go the restoration route for a variety of reasons. I actually would have loved to DIY some of this but that wasn’t possible for us. Covid pushed back our start timeline by a few months and we welcomed our first child in April. The overall condition of the house was something I was not ok living in with a baby so we decided to move forward.

Lyndee the original part of the house (a 1 bed/1 bath) was plaster, the living/dining room had a cheap wood paneling covering it in an effort to hide cracks I believe. There was a 2 bedroom addition done 40+ years ago that was smooth drywall.

We went to the house yesterday to speak to the foreman and he showed us samples of 2 textures. They offer either orange peel or knockdown. If you twisted my arm I guess I’d choose knockdown. He also said they CAN do a level 5 finish it just takes longer obviously, and a higher cost but didn’t specify how much. So now I’m even more frustrated since the contractor made it seem as though our only options were texture, and smooth is something his crew doesn’t do. Either me or my husband will meet with him tomorrow and discuss this in person.

Strange, I have a totally different experience. I've never owned a home without conventional drywall: board, mud/tape, sand, paint. It's so common that it's not even called "smooth". I've never been in a friend's or family member's house which has not had the same.

In fact, it's so easy that even slightly handy people can do all the work themselves if they wished.

For a high quality smooth finish what you need is not plaster or skim coated drywall but "veneer plaster". Its a very thin coat of plaster on a gypsum board base commonly called "blueboard" because it has a blue-gray color.

Its not offered in some parts of the US but where its available, its pretty much the standard because its faster and cheaper than drywall with a rock hard smooth plaster finish that takes paint well and resists damage.

If you specify drywall in the Boston area you would get blueboard and a textured finish would be extra. I've used it since the 70's. The smooth troweled finish is so beautiful you'll hate to paint it.

It might not be available in your area but its worth searching for.

Here is a youtube demonstration.

Try this company:

B C Drywall and Plaster, San Fernando, CA 1340 818-826-8080

There are 2 types of smooth finish in my midwestern market. "Ugly" and "Awesome". Ugly is about the same labor as orange peel & knock down (also called executive). Awesome smooth walls require leveling of drywall, complete skimcoat, and extensive attention to detail.

Ugly is ugly because it ends up being really wavy and inconsistent. Especially true of old homes with previously plastered walls. The old lumber varied in thickness considerably and it was the job of the plasterer to level out these inconsistencies when he applied the mud. Drywall is the same thickness throughout and will not even out these differences. Smooth compounds this because it hides nothing.

I've had some success with customers who get sticker shocked at smooth by switching to a very light orange peel. Not as awesome as smooth, but better than an orange peel. Still need to level the studs prior to installing the drywall though.

Knockdown is the favorite of any drywaller due to the amount it hides. I've seen some pretty gnarly seam taping almost disappear when the k/d was applied.

So in short, if you want smooth, be fine with paying extra for it or you might end up with ugly.

Best of luck. Congrats on the baby!

I'm sorry this is happening to you. I too had no idea that new drywall would be anything but smooth.

Here is USG's description of the 5 levels of taped drywall finish.

It's not difficult to achieve a smooth drywall finish but it takes more time so its more expensive. If your contractor can't do it, find one who can.

"The overall condition of the house was something I was not ok living in with a baby so we decided to move forward."

We wanna see pictures of the baby.

We’re in a 1929 Spanish Eclectic south of you. Our house has had two additions, one in the 40’s and one we did in 2012. The original part of the house had at least three wall/ceiling textures, some drywall, lath and plaster and wallboard/plaster. It is what it is.

A true restoration would not have removed the lath and plaster unless it was In complete disrepair and only I’m those areas. So you’re past that point. Textured drywall is the norm in So Cal so your quote/contract probably meets the standard. Since you already removed the original walls, I’d just move on.

Renovations are hard. And when you’re in the middle of one, it can be difficult to stay sane. We moved our kitchen. I know what it’s like.

At the end of the day, nobody is going to die if you have textured walls. Pick your battles and enjoy the end result.

"So any contractor working on that age home should know ..."

No contractor can know what you want if you don't tell him/her. That's what contracts including drawings and specifications are for.

But if the contractor was smart he/she would have proposed their own description of the work that would have included all finishes.

Without seeing the contact I would assume both parties to the contract were negligent.

I would have assumed a restoration of a Craftsman bungalow in California would have smooth plaster walls ready for wallpaper.

Why not pay the upgrade and move on? Or find a blue board installer.

My dad actually has blue board with plaster in his house and I realize now we should’ve gone that route. However I had no clue that’s what he had until I asked him about smooth drywall (since that’s what I thought it was) and we got into a lengthy conversation.

After speaking to the contractor, level 5 was cost prohibitive. My husband and I decided on a compromise we were ok with and will be doing a level 4 in both bathrooms and on the ceilings throughout the house. All other walls will be a knockdown texture.

This isn’t our “forever home”, not a true restoration, and costing us over $200k so we’re trying to be smart about what makes sense for us.

Also pic of the baby just because 😁

It doesn't require a skim coat of compound to make an acceptably smooth finish even on a ceiling. There's no reason to settle for a knock-down finish.

Baby is super cute and definitely deserves only the best 😊