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Drywall debate with contractor, what to do?

Michelle Graham
3 years ago

My husband & I are doing a complete home renovation, gutted the whole house. It’s a 1000 sq. ft. 1922 Craftsman bungalow in a historical part of Los Angeles that hasn’t been updated in close to 40 years. Our journey with the contractor has not been an easy one so far, and what we budgeted as a contingency is already gone. Framing finally passed inspection, insulation is due for inspection next week and then we start drywall.

The contractor reached out giving us 2 choices for drywall texture, I told him we didn’t want texture, we wanted smooth walls. His response was that they do texture only and smooth walls are a different process. I then went down the rabbit hole of googling drywall and now understand why smooth is more labor intensive. My issue is that we’re 3 months in and this is the first time a drywall texture has been mentioned. Even our contract just has the generic statement “install new drywall on walls and ceilings”. Neither my husband or I are fans of textured drywall and it doesn’t fit the style of the house. I’d even be ok with a level 4 drywall since the house is small and doesn’t have a ton of direct light.

Any advice about how to deal with this? Can we argue that texture wasn’t specified and request at least level 4 finish? Do we just need to find another drywall crew?

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