Emilio Verdugo

Emilio and Ana were recommended to me by a contractor who came well recommended to me. Emilio had built a house in Point Loma, San Diego that impressed my husband and they seemed to understand what we wanted. We started the project 4 years ago. Since then my mother died and I had 2 major surgeries, so the plans were put on hold for awhile, but we did return to the project with Emilio and eventually finished the plans. Obviously costs increased during that time. I had a very clear idea of what I wanted and I had a definite budget. Relative to the other architects I had interviewed Emilio was more expensive but competitive. I trusted. Ana was very helpful with layout as Emilio worked on the plans. As we were working on the plans I asked frequently about cost. It was important to stay within our budget. But I could not get a clear cost from Ana/Emilio nor from the contractor. Finally, we settled on a plan. It had grown a lot from our initial meeting and I was concerned about the cost. I was informed that their job was to design the house we wanted, not to account for cost. Then the contractor came to us with the final papers to sign and the estimated cost of the project. It was outrageous! Far beyond what we had discussed. I was devastated. Ultimately, I hired a different and wonderful contractor who built me a beautiful home after he worked with Emilio to change the plans to fit my budget. Emilio charged me an additional set of fees to make these changes. It all added up to a lot of money. Along the way, there were several problems with the plans. Emilio was available by phone to answer questions but I also had to pay the structural engineer twice to work with the contractor and make the necessary changes for inspection. It was a very challenging few months as the walls went up. There wasn't any electrical page included in the plans and as the contractor worked through the pages, things didn't match up. Emilio and Ana are lovely people. From what I saw of their work before mine, it looked solid. But when I design the master bathroom that had to be omitted to meet my budget, it will be with a different architect.

Emilio is courteous, professional, and responsive. I needed an architect quickly, someone who would have no problem working directly with my contractor, who was already in place. Emilio was able to meet right away and turn around his architectural drawings in a reasonable amount of time. I recommend Emilio -- as long as you take care to have him work with a structural engineer who is readily accessible and can visit your job site. I liked working with Emilio, and would've given him an A+ rating if I was just evaluating him. However, since hiring an architect generally means working with whomever he/she uses as their structural engineer when you need structural calculations, I was extremely displeased with the process with his go-to structural engineer. The structural engineer turned out to be someone based in San Diego -- I didn't know this up front. I only found out once I started complaining about the delays, when over a month had gone by and I still didn't have what was needed for permit submission. It made no sense since my job site was in LA. Had it been someone based in LA who could visit our property to see the existing structure and fully understand the changes we wanted to make to it, it would've been very different. I had to tell Emilio that I wanted to use someone else, and found another engineer. That other structural engineer finished his work within a few days, and I had my building permits in no time. The whole experience with Emilio's structural engineer was very upsetting. Emilio did what he could from his end to make things right, which I appreciated, and is why I can still recommend him -- but again, only with the caveat that you not use the structural engineer (Michael) he'd put on my job.

Emilio was personable and easy to work with. He responded promptly and patiently as he walked us through the design and permit process. Although a simple house extension, he created several design versions for us to choose from. He explained our options and listened to what we wanted. We were very satisfied with his service and professionalism.

Emilio Verdugo: knowledgable, thorough, patient, professional, trustworthy, and we loved his aesthetics We hired Emilio Verdugo to help us with a whole house remodel. We like his modern but yet warm approach to design. We especially liked his sense of space and color which aligned with our aesthetic. In addition to the design process, Emilio helped us obtain contractor bidding which entailed meeting with each one individually to review plans and clarify any issues. Emilio was also instrumental in assisting the project through the permitting process. His knowledge of the code sand ability to navigate through through the planning an building department, along with his approachable and patient demeanor, really helped push several issues through to assure that our design was not compromised.

Emilio provided excellent overall service. He coordianted with the City builidng and safety department. He obtained all the necessary permits and approvals. He prepared all the required drawings, pulled the permits and met with the City inspector. I would highly recommend him for any single family home renovations or remodeling. I will be using his services again in the near future on other single family home project.

The project came out fabulous. I enjoyed working with Emilio Verdugo. He was very laid back and never allowed me to panic about how it was going to come out. He is very nice, and competent. I recommend him highly.