Monolite Stucco Systems LLC

This job was performed quickly, effectively, and with the highest quality. Monolite Stucco Systems is a turn key stucco company, handling demo, window removal and replacement with sealing, framing repairs if required, substrate and water barrier, stucco with 3 step application, and painting including interior finish work. The Manager checked in every day during the job, and came to the job site multiple times to ensure that I was happy and satisfied with the workers and the results. Monolite is a professional organization with great workers, and top quality workmanship.

In short, the price and quality of work were pretty good, but I would not use Monolite Stucco Systems again due an initial quote that didn't fully capture the scope of work, lack of communication throughout project, three missed deadlines provided by the project manager, and the amount of interior damage the work caused, which I think could have been avoided had the workers been a little more careful. The Long Version (for those who like details): I used Monolite to complete repairs identified during a stucco inspection I had conducted when I was purchasing this house, including re-working the balcony to install proper drainage accessories. Their original quote used in negotiating the purchase price did not include the entire required scope from the inspection, and had I realized that, I may have selected a different contractor (updated quote received during the job was still slightly below the cost of the next bid). Scheduled the work, but received no contact to confirm the project start date during the 2 weeks prior. No one showed up on the scheduled start date, and I had to track down the owner via Angie's List since the main office wasn't returning my calls. A crew was out the next day to build scaffold. A few days later, minimal progress had been made, and still no contact from anyone other than the workers on site who didn't appear to know the full scope of the job. I finally got in touch with the project manager about 1 week in. Communication and tracking job progress after that point was still lackluster, and I had to initiate it. On three different occasions the project manager gave me a project completion date, and he missed all three deadlines. What Monolite had initially quoted as a 2.5 week job (including the extra framing repairs discovered during the job) took 1 month. The other major issue I have with their work is the amount of damage caused by the framing repairs that were required. I recognize that damage is always possible when replacing parts of the house frame, and I signed a contract agreeing that any interior repairs would cost extra, but I feel like the workers were being pretty aggressive during the work and may have caused more damage than necessary. I have elected to use a different contractor for the interior repairs, since Monolite's interior repair quote came back significantly higher than others.

My experience was very good. Lots of homes in my area get repainted and get stucco and what's most impressive about Monolite was their speed and their completion. So, the from the time they started till the time they finished it was maybe five working days total and that's remarkable because some neighbors still had the house under construction for weeks. I was very impressed with the speed that they completed the work in and the professionalism they had with it. The workmanship was top notch and the speed of completion was excellent and then the cleanliness of the job site was excellent. It was just impressive all the way around.

The job was done in a timely manner, and everyone involved was very professional. Great work!!!

Price was very good compared with other quotes, and the person that gave me the estimate was very knowledgeable and helpful when he came out to look at the scope. If it weren't for this, I would have gone with a different company. Work was done but the company is very disorganized. For example: 1) Took several calls and emails over a period of a month to finally proceed and schedule the work. Never returned my calls or emails, I just called until they eventually got back to me 2) I did not receive the invoice until two months after the work was done 3) A week after the work started, I received an email from the main office saying that my work was ready to be scheduled. (?) 4) I asked to be present during a portion of the work at least three times, and given confirmation that I would be notified so I could be home. The work was done without notifying me. There seems to be a big disconnect and lack of communication between the main office, the schedulers and workers

Monolite is an absolute life saver.  We bought a house with some known water damage in the stucco and had repair quotes from 4 firms, Monolite included, when we were negotiating the sales price.  After we closed, we tried working with one of the other firms because their quote was slightly lower, but the firm kept pushing back our date and not returning our calls, so we tried another firm and it was the same result.  
This went on for 6 months with 4 firms and finally the water damage shorted out a circuit in the house and we knew we needed work done immediately.  The firm we had a contract with at the time wouldn't return our calls so I called everyone I could find and Monolite was the only one willing to move their schedule around to make room for us given our urgency.  
They came out to the house to discuss the work before they started (something no other contractor had done) and actually lowered their quote ~20% to make it the most affordable of anyone we had looked at.  They provided us a detailed contract which was surprisingly generous to the customer, providing deadline assurances and a very detailed scope of work including the quality of each material (also something no other contractor had done).  
They got to work within a week and found the damage to be much more substantial than any of us had previously thought, requiring re-framing the whole front of the house, but they made us a fair bid to change the work and got it all done in 3 weeks.  We had to go on a trip and they texted us picture updates every couple days explaining what they were doing.  
When their power tools knocked out an electrical circuit they had an electrician there the next day to fix it and they even threw in freebies like re-tiling a small side balcony with spare tile we had left over from the main balcony they were doing.  
We had terrible experiences with several other major stucco remediation companies in Houston, but I would trust Monolite with anything.  John and Anthony are the best.

Repairs to the stucco walls went well. 

The provider was not totally knowledgeable about knowing how to repair the tiled decks and stairway -- it was "hit or miss."  I still do not have a written guarantee from provider about this work.  I also have no receipt from him for the amount I paid him.

There is some exterior work that has not been finished -- including some incomplete trim work that needs to be done.  Also, as a result of rains occurring while work was being done and exterior was left unprotected, water seeped into the interior of the house resulting in two areas where rain broke thru the ceiling and the sheetrock needs to be repaired and painted.

Provider DID NOT have any experience in dealing with outdoor hurricane shutters.  3 sets of French door hurricane shutters were removed carelessly.  When the paint work was complete, the Provider did not know how to reinstall the French door hurricane shutters and the original shutter provider (Rolltex Shutters)  had to come and install the French doors at the Provider's expense. 

On June 16, in preparation for a rainstorm in which wind gusts were predicted up to 60 mph, I went to lower the window hurricane shutters and found that most of them are stationary -- would not move up nor down.  This left me totally unprotected from the predicted inclement weather.  When Rolltex Shutters came to inspect the window hurricane shutters they informed me that the reason the window shutters were not moving up nor down when cranked from indoors is due to the fact that the inside of the window frame had been painted covering the felt lining which allows the shutters to move up and down.  Evidently as the weather cools, the problem will become worse because the felt will become harder.  The Provider does not know how to deal with these hurricane shutters and has no informed solution other than another "hit or miss" idea to use paint solvent on each window.  There are 20 windows in the house.  Rolltex Shutters' solution is to replace the existing lining of each hurricane window shutter.  Their estimate for this work is approximately $2,500.  The Provider refuses to pay Rolltex Shutters to fix the Shutters.  In the meantime, I am being left with no protection should a hurricane hit the Texas Gulf Coast.  I live on the water.

John Luna and his team were very responsive, professional, prompt and on time. They were detailed oriented and very thorough in their inspection and explanation.

Michael Luna explained why certain modifications were necessary and where they would be looking for water damage after some of the stucco was removed. The modifications were performed in a few days and the crew was careful about protecting adjoining areas and cleaning up after they were finished. As a bonus, they discovered that there was no significant substrate damage in two suspect areas and Monolite removed those costs from the final invoice. In other words, they came in under the agreed amount. I gave them a "B" in price because their bid was moderately expensive -- but good work always comes at a price.

Excellent job perofmed, Original estimate was quite close, a little bit more damage found when work started relative to inspection but this only increased the cost by around 10%. Full Houston public works building inspection perofrmed throughout. Weather did not cooperate so project took a little longer than expected but very nice job when finsihed.

Stucco check came to give me an invasive inspection when I was in the process of buying my home. I was under a strict time constraint (2 days left in my option period) and they were able to get the inspecion done and get me the report of their findings in the time frame required. They were very thorough in explaining everything to me while I was there, so the report was even easier to follow. They were a key factor in making my desicion to purchase my home.

We contacted Monolyte on a Sunday afternoon, they did a full inspection on Monday, commenced repairs on Tuesday and finished at the end of the following week.  We were up against a very ambitious time line (11 days) and they worked to achieve that, and despite a rain delay still managed to finish early.  The communcation through the whole process weas great and we cannot recommend them enough.

We had an issue with permitting that was a setback time wise but all in all a great experience.

The experience working with them was great.  Anthony, the manager was awesome.  He promptly came out to do the estimate, took photos and gave us a very detailed estimate.  They were able to complete the work by our deadline, in about a week, by working all day on the weekends.  Anthony even came back to inspect the work and had the guys come and pressure wash the driveway and garage door as well, even though that was not part of the work.  They come with a 5 year warranty that moisture damage will not occur again.  I was extremely happy with their services.  It was probably the best experience I've ever had working with a contractor.  I would recommend them to anyone.
We got about 4 quotes and their pricing fit right in with the rest but their professionalism and detailed report really stood out to us.  Plus they could start the job right away and were always available to answer my questions by text, email or phone.

This was a job that was proposed on 6/19/13, started same day and completed on Tuesday the 25th.  This was a job that was made up of many stages.  His workers reported to the home every day. 
Mr. Luna informs you as many builders don't when you buy stucco that there is upkeep and maintenance to this product.  It must be painted and sealed every six years or so.  

Leo came out and provided a quote to patch a hole in my stucco that existed on the 3rd floor of my townhome. He provided a quote and indicated that his team could match the paint/color of my stucco, if not he would let me know and it will cost $350 versus $250 to try and match the paint. Well a few days later his worker performed the work and left ladder marks on the stucco. Additionally the worker painted the stucco a lighter color and it looked horrible!!!. I called Leo and provided feedback on the work, he was not nice and insisted his workers did a perfect job. I had Leo to return to my house and review the work for himself. Leo arrived and agreeded the work was NOT quality. He wanted me to pay $350 but we settled on $200. Another stucco contractor informed me that with my style of stucco (the paint is mixed into the stucco mixture) it requires an entire repaint of that section not just a patch attempt. This same contractor is doing a fabulous job on my neighbor's home. I will be using him in March 2010.

After a day or two delay in the originally anticipated start date (the delays were communicated to me by the contractor) the work got started and steady progress was made until the job was done. The workers arrived at a reasonable time (i.e. not too early) each day. The workers cleaned up the work site at the end of each day and safely stowed ladders and other material in the back yard. All waste materials were removed at the end of each day. The yard contained a swimming pool and I noted that the gate was always latched at the end of the day. The retexturing was very well done such that it is now impossible for the casual observer to detect where the repairs were made. The removal of old caulk and recaulking of the windows and other joints was done very neatly and thoroughly. The paint was carefully applied and the few stray paint drops that ended up on surfaces that were not to be painted were removed at the end of the job. No waste materials whatever were left on our property after the work was compelted. Mr. Luna participated in a final inspection of the work. Although the window leaked only after a very heavy rain, so we can't tell yet if that repair was successful, my initial impression is that this job was very well done.