The plaster can not be sanded. You can how ever have some one skim coat the whole job with sheet rock mud to smooth it up.
The GC is probably right for a plaster job it sounds like what is to be expected.

What do you mean by "sounds like what is to be expected"?

I have seen houses done with this type of finish, and they never seemed to be this rough, they did not skim coat it after applying the plaster, they basically sprayed it with water until it looked smooth. My wife is so dissapointed.

As described in the OP, you were to have a Level 5 Finish, the highest level of drywall finish as described in industry standards, which are incorporated in architectural specifications. (See link.) What you were given fails every test. Your gc is clearly unfamiliar with these international standards.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drywall Specification

Believe it or not the GC actually told me that if we would have painted everything white you would not be able to see it.

This is just one of many things that has been done wrong since this build started.

With plaster you will end up with some trowel marks. But from your next post it sounds like they only put on the "brown coat" and never put the finish coat on. My plasters put on a "brown coat" then a finish. Both are the same plaster but the first coat is for filling and flattening. The second coat is for smooth. It goes on all most immediately after the first coat. There will be some trowel marks say one per wall but they are filled with with sheet rock mud and sanded smooth before paint.
Like I said before it sound like the only way to fix it is to have some one skim coat the whole house.

It looks like on the second floor they did do a finish coat, it was very white when it dryed. Downstairs you can tell it was just one, like you said it looks brown. I am having the flooring installed tommorow, I don't know what to do.

Is my face red! I read "board and plaster" as Level 5. Since it's genuine plaster, I second dumaspup.

Veneer coat plaster (thin 1/8" coat over blue board) is pretty common here in the northeast.

And it's dead flat, never a trowel mark, level 5, gorgeous.

During the application they don't "spray it with water" but they might add just a bit of water by flicking it on to the surface with a dampened brush, sort of a Jackson Pollack technique.

Did they actually hang blueboard (gypsum board with a blue paper facing) and use real plaster for the veneer coat, or did they hang regular gray faced gypsum board and then skim coat it with joint compound?

Skim coating with joint compound is a far cry from veneer coat plaster, and I've seen some GCs sell joint compound as plaster.

Mongo

Skim coating the last coat over wallboard was popular in our area in the early seventies, though it wasn't referred to as a level 5 finish. Level 3,4,5 finish wasn't in the terminology of those days. It was popular for a smooth finish as well as the popularity of wall paper hanging. Imo, it never compared to the plaster over blueboard smoothness that Mongo refers to in the n.e. I witnessed plaster over blueboard on cape cod in the eighties and it is awesome. Skim coating over wallboard phased out with texturing and is rare to this day to see a smooth finish out here.

Appearently we have an in experienced crew + builder on the op's project and can be corrected by getting an experienced finisher to skim coat the entire project as mentioned by Dumaspup. It doesn't sound like it is a scratch/brown coat/skim coat used, but rather a sordid attempt at skim coating over wallboard with joint compound by inexperienced finishers unfamiliar with the process. Get an experienced finisher in there to clean it up!

So it's a lame attempt at Level 5. (I'm used to a lame attempt at Level 4, which requires a judicious selection of paint, lighting, wainscotting and texturing to avoid highlighting the flaws.)

My painter is making a valiant effort at fixing the imperfections, but I honestly don't think he wants the job of fixing someone elses mess. At this point I am thinking just let him finish painting, and I will try and fix it later. We have to keep moving if we are going to be in by Christmas.

Thanks

"My painter is making a valiant effort at fixing the imperfections..."

That statement makes about as much sense as, "My barber is making a valiant effort to fix the mess left by my auto mechanic." You need a competent plasterer to fix plaster, not a painter.

You do NOT want to "fix this later". In the best of times, plastering is not a neat job, and trying to work around furniture/carpeting/people is going to make a difficult job far worse. As solar says, get a real plasterer (and be prepared to pay for his/her experience) to do the job right.

Oh, and the GC is a bleep. White paint not only does not cover up his sins, it will make them even more obvious as sunshine and lamplight cause shadows, which will stand out most obviously. If he wants to hide his faults, he should use extremely dark paint, with a lot of texture.

Don't forget to check the new plasterer's references!

Veneer coat plaster (thin 1/8" coat over blue board) is pretty common here in the northeast.

And it's dead flat, never a trowel mark, level 5, gorgeous.

That describes the job our plasterers did in this house. Both the walls and ceilings were skim-coated, and I notice only the most minor of very small flaws, only on close inspection, few and far between, and none of them look like the OP described. So, to the OP, it can be done well. Just FWIW.

Also, I wonder if it's an uncommon finish in the OP's region? As you said, it's common here in the northeast, and there are clearly experts around who do it often and can do it well.

--Steve

Veneer plaster over blue board OR traditional plaster over lathe there should NOT be any reason for unwanted trowel or tool marks. Someone who has the skill and knows what they are doing can make a flawless surface. There certainly shouldn't be any gouges. The reason it probably took forever is that the guys were incompetent. I've watched real plasters work and they can skim coat things faster than I could paint it.