Hot take: I hired a guy off Craigslist to do my stucco patch in the South Valley and it was a disaster.

I needed a small stucco repair on my house near Isleta, maybe a 4x4 foot area. A guy on Craigslist said he could do it for $400, which was way less than the other quotes I got. He showed up, slapped on some mix, and said it was good. Two months later, after our first real rain, the whole patch cracked and started to crumble away. I called him back and he ghosted me. I ended up paying a licensed contractor $1200 to rip it out and do it right, with the proper base coat and finish. So I was out $400 plus the new cost. I'm torn because sometimes you can find a good deal with a smaller operator, but this felt like straight-up fraud. Has anyone else in ABQ had a nightmare story with hiring someone without checking their references first?

2 comments

2 Comments

faithk9212d ago

Feels like this happens with everything now, not just home repair. You try to save a few bucks on a handyman, a mechanic, even a haircut, and you end up paying double to fix their mess later. It's exhausting trying to figure out who actually knows what they're doing versus who just talks a good game. That cheap price is like a trap, because once the money's gone, so are they.

felix_fox12d ago

Ever notice how the worst ones always have the most perfect five-star reviews online? Makes you wonder if they're all fake or if people just don't know what good work looks like anymore.