Vigil and Sons Window and Doors

The window replacement went OK. I had to keep an eye over their shoulder because the work they wanted to leave was sloppy and unfinished. I foolishly gave them the stucco job as well, and that's where it went totally off the rails. These guys are very unreliable, and most importantly, they do sloppy and unfinished work. Stay away from Vigil and Sons.

The crew that came out was prompt, professional, courteous, and provided high quality work. They even did some extra clean up as they finished up their job. Did more than they agreed to and the price they gave us was excellent. I will use them again in the future if the need arises!

I am a normal guy who hired Vigil and Sons to re-stucco my home in Albuquerque. What has followed has been a year-and-a-half of hard work trying to get Tom Vigil to do the right thing and repair his mistakes. It has so far cost me several thousand dollars trying to get the work done correctly- and it’s still not done right. Here are the facts in my case: 1) On April 14, 2011 Vigil provided agreed to apply El Rey stucco in a sand finish to all areas of my house. In the proposal you agreed to match the existing color, which he identified as adobe number 116. We accepted the terms of this job, at a cost of about $8900. 2) On May 15, Vigil began work began on the house while my wife and I were out of town. A one day later, my friend overseeing the work wrote me to indicate that there was a significant color mismatch between the new stucco on the house, in the existing wall surrounding the house, which was not part of the original work order. 3) On May 17 Vigil acknowledged that the color of the original house was called buckskin, not adobe. The new house stucco caused a significant clash between the house and the existing wall. The only way out of this situation was to have the wall stucco in the new color as well. I had to pay an additional $2000 to complete stucco work on the wall so that the wall and house would match even though Vigil had applied the wrong color himself. We paid these additional funds, even though we felt that the error was Vigils (his contract indicated that the color would match the original color of the house in his proposal) because we had no other choice. We had no intention of applying stucco to the wall he put the wrong color on the house. Ten months later, the stucco began to fail. We called Vigil to evaluate the stucco due to significant problems that had emerged over the course of the winter. Vigil failed to show for the appointment that we had made. On March 16, we spoke by telephone. Vigil indicated that he would be out to evaluate the stucco on March 20. He failed to show for that evaluation. Vigil kept failing to failed to respond to several messages. The house showed several areas that had failed: a) Several areas of cracking the southern exposure of the house b) Multiple areas of flaking on the house parapets, including the northern side of the house, and a parapet surrounding the swamp coolers c) Large areas of cracking on the northern wall of the house. d) Extensive areas of flaking on the uppermost surfaces of the wall surrounding the entire home We had a certified independent stucco contractor evaluate the work. There were multiple areas where the stucco was not applied appropriately or correctly. In the consultant’s opinion, cracking was caused by water seeping under the stucco, which was applied incorrectly. Damage was a direct result of inappropriate installation of the stucco product. (Vigil later admitted to me that he had applied the stucco in rainstorm). In April we sent a letter demanding Vigil’s attention. There was no reply. In June, my wife and I hired a lawyer and pressed a tort claim. This was the first time that we had ever done this in our lives, but felt that we had been terribly mistreated by Vigil. After a month, Vigil responded and asked to meet. I brought a general contractor to the meeting. Vigil proposed to repair the damage, at his cost, within a month. We agreed to his terms if I hired a general contractor to supervise Vigil’s work. Two months later, Vigil began repairs: Here is the contractor’s log of his interaction with Vigil: 8-7-2012: Meet Mr. Vigil’s stucco crew to begin repairs, crew is one hour late. Crew started crack repairs and failing parapet repairs. 8-8-2012: Site visit to inspect prior work, check for mesh tape installation and patches. Crew is still in progress of patching. 8-10-2012: Site visit to check on patches and confirm work ready for color. Called Mr. Vigil to discuss color schedule and touch up for patches. Mr. Vigil asked for a open schedule to accommodate for clear weather conditions, this was agreed on. 8-27-2012: Site visit to check if Mr. Vigil had started and he had not, called and scheduled him for 8-28-2012. 8-28-2012: Site visit to check if Mr. Vigil had completed color and repairs. Crew did show up and work but color matching was not acceptable and patches still needed work. 8-30-2012: Called Mr. Vigil and left message asking for return call and schedule, no return call 8-31-2012: Called Mr. Vigil and left message asking for return call and schedule, no return call. 9-5-2012: Called Mr. Vigil and left message asking for return call and schedule, finally got return call and scheduled work for 9-7-2012. 9-7-2012: Meet Mr. Vigil crews to review problems with color matching, patch blending, and cracks. Mr. Vigils foreman agreed with the necessary scope of work and scheduled for 9-13-12. 9-13-2012: Site visit to see if Mr.Vigil was working, weather was bad, not call no show. 9-14-2012: Mr. Vigil call and wanted to schedule in two weeks, I explained that that time frame was too far out and the job needed to be finished earlier. Mr. Vigil explained that “he is losing money on this job already” and then he agreed to finish his work on Saturday 9-15-12. 9-15-2012: Site visit no call no show from Mr. Vigil. On September 15, we notified Vigil that he was no longer allowed on the property and that our general contractor would finish the work himself. The house still has hugely mismatched areas of stucco. My wife and I are now in the hole for thousands in legal fees and in contractor consultant fees. We will continue to pursue Vigil until he takes responsibility for his work and his company. We still need to get another contractor to finish the work. We have used dozens of contractors over the years but have NEVER come across a company as unresponsive, negligent and irresponsible as Vigil and Sons. Stay far, far away. We have posted photos of the work at www.vigilandsons.com