We hired Vision Construction (owned and operated by Eugene S.) in the early part of 2023 to help us…read morewith a sizable job of lifting and stabilizing the foundation of our house. Initially, he was responsive, humble, and communicative, coordinating with the vendors we'd lined up for that phase of work. We enjoyed working with him and found that he was an invaluable partner to have on the ground while we, displaced to another corner of Vermont during the work, weren't able to supervise the various players during this phase. He provided the critical carpentry work that brought the above pieces together. And, the work for which he charged us seemed fair in its scope, and generally in line with the off-the-cuff estimates he gave us for pieces of the project. If this was the extent of our relationship with him, we'd probably be giving him rave reviews.
Unfortunately, after this initial period, our experience deteriorated. We engaged him to finish the remaining carpentry work around things like a section of the roof, siding, and porch re-attachment, to complete a reordering of the kitchen and bathroom, and to build a closet in an upstairs bedroom. He finished the demolition and prep work on most of these projects in a timely way, but after that point turned his attention to other clients' projects while offering a litany of excuses for why he didn't have time to get back to our project or claimed, disingenuously, that our job couldn't be a "priority" until the instillation of other infrastructure (i.e., plumbing and electric). From roughly May to mid-August, he made no meaningful progress against the parts of the house that could have been addressed or readied without the above pieces (e.g., siding, closet construction, porch, roof). In some cases this meant there were places where the house was open to the elements. We also had to frequently prod him to provide estimates for the work--from both him and from his subcontractors--laying out steps in spreadsheets/charts ourselves for him to populate with costs and timing; in some cases, the estimates were close to what the final bill was, and in others, the estimate was off by orders of magnitude from the final bills (or never was completed at all), often leading to the feeling of being ambushed by large expenses at random intervals. In short, we felt like we were consistently doing the administrative and coordination that we had expected he, as the contractor, should take responsibility for. Meanwhile, he admitted on several occasions that he had been completing other jobs while ours sat essentially idle, rendering our house a challenge to occupy due to its shambolic state.
Finally, after months of little to no progress, our hope dwindled and our patience began to wear thin. We sent him another request and a series of phone/text/email follow-ups for the costs and timeline expected to close out the pieces of the project. At this point, he continued to stall for the better part of two weeks, before quitting - claiming, somewhat inexplicably, that it was because we did "not see eye to eye" - without fully finishing any of the pieces mentioned on which he had started. And, the quality started to decline with multiple instances of jobs that weren't finished to what we'd agreed or done in what felt like a slapdash, "quickest possible to cross the item off the list" way (e.g., incorrect finish; ceiling fixture reinstalled but not functional). The worksite was also left fairly cluttered, which we had to clean ourselves. Ultimately, this put us in the challenging situation of needing to find a new contractor to check the work of, fix, and finish the work of Eugene and, in a complicated market to boot.
If you're looking for someone who will give you clarity around the work they can do and when and will follow through on it without a stream of excuses and delays, then based on my experience with Eugene and Vision Construction, I suggest you look elsewhere. We had high hopes when we began working with him, but unfortunately were extremely let down in the end.
Attached are pictures of the state in which he left our home when he quit.
