Level ceiling
 

My husband and I are new homeowners in the process of having the entire first floor of our house renovated - a complete gut job down to the studs on all the walls and ceilings. The new sheetrock was just put up, taped, mudded and primed. The trouble is that the new ceiling is wavey in at least a half dozen different locations. The contractor said there's nothing he can do about it because our existing ceiling joists are uneven. Is it unreasonable to expect a level ceiling? Is shimming or other leveling techniques considered going above and beyond?

In this case it is.

If you expect the contractor should have done it for the same price it is.

If your car battery dies next week is that going to be his fault also?:)

Not only is it not unreasonable I’d expect it.

Your contractor may not have noticed these issues when he first looked at the job but he surely did when he started hanging the sheetrock.

As soon as the problem was noticed he should have stopped and discussed the extra work with you.

There are a few different techniques for leveling a ceiling, none of them difficult.

And therein lies the key to the issue.:)