ALL ABOUT STUCCO & EXTERIORS

He did not contract to prep the house for stucco so my son did that for us. He told my son he would begin on October 23rd and be finished before Thanksgiving. Friday, Oct 18th a meeting was scheduled to review the project and make sure we had everything ready. In that meeting, the stucco applicator who was to do the job said he would be stapling to the old siding, not attaching into the studs. When questioned, Vinnie denied ever telling us he would fasten into studs even though we had discussed that with him on several occasions and he had told us he had to do so to give us the guarantee on the project. In the meeting the stucco applicator said he would not begin until Nov 15th and Vinnie told him he should work with my son because Vinnie would be in Mexico the entire time our project was being done. When we contracted with him he had told us he would be checking on the job every day. Now it would not be done even close to the time promised (we were already 3 weeks past the original estimated date) and he was not even going to be in the country when the project was being done. On Saturday, October 19th, I notified Vinnie we were cancelling the contract and requested a refund of the $6,800 down payment given to him in August. On Monday, October 21st, I called Vinnie to be sure he received the email. He confirmed he received it but said he had not read it. Said he would read it and respond. As of today I have not received a response from Vinnie and have not received a refund of the $6,800 deposit. Have attempted to contact him several times this week with no success. This evening when I called him, he answered the phone and then hung up. Have filed a complaint with the BBB tonight.

There were many delays throughout the project. It finally took over three months to complete a job that could have been finished in one week. We were told by Vinnie that he was very busy, and we saw very little of him during the project, or while the crew was working. During the stucco process, our new roof was damaged. The stucco crew placed carpet on the roof to protect new shingles. However, they nailed the carpet to the roof, requiring replacement of the new shingles.

Waste of time

I contacted six different stucco companies. Three of the companies never made an appointment to come out and bid on the job. One other company came out, but I never received a bid from them. So, I had two bids. Vinny's bid was about half of the other bid. Vinny was a little slow in getting started, but I learned that he really meant it when he told me he liked to finish up one job before starting another. After they removed the siding we discovered a number of problems - holes, gaps, rotten trim, which Vinny corrected before prepping for the stucco. The substrate prep was done very thoroughly. The tar paper they put on was overlapped 4 - 5" and the lathe (chicken wire) was also overlapped about 4". The stucco was applied professionally with notable care taken to protect the brick, roof, windows, and shrubs. I chose the colors for the skim coat and Vinny and the manufacturer's rep took care to provide large samples. Overall, I am very pleased with the finished work. I found Vinny and his crews very easy to work with and very responsive to my requests for touching up little things. Vinny genuinely meant it when he repeatedly told me that he wanted me to be happy with the way my house looked. Because of the problems found after siding was removed, the cost ended up being about $1,000 more than the bid, but I feel the additional charge was more than reasonable given all the extra work envolved.

The company came out and did an excellent job. They had to match the color perfectly and it was a rare stucco. They had a reasonable estimate, and they were on time. It was right on budget.