Hugo Handyman Remodeling

This review is a bummer to write. I hate to leave a negative review, and I do not like to use Unilocal as a forum for complaints. So I’ll try to be fair, thorough, and descriptive in my review. I had high hopes for Hugo, based on his other handful of reviews and can say that I am happy with some aspects of the work he did… However, I have to be honest in my review as I feel it is only fair to warn others in hopes you won’t have the experience.
We decided to remodel our bathroom, and after studying Unilocal reviews and talking to a few different contractors, chose Hugo Handyman Remodeling. My first impression of Hugo was that he was nice and seemed to have a lot of experience, despite having only five reviews on Unilocal.He said the project would take 3 – 4 days. He offered to go to the tile shops with us to get items we needed, which was nice. However, he was pretty difficult to get a hold of. Often his phone was turned off, and he did not respond to my messages prior to our first scheduled store visit (this happened frequently throughout the project). That was frustrating, as I did not know where we were going or even if we were still meeting. Four hours after the time we had agreed on, he called me and said, «ok, want to go now?». Unfortunately that was kind of the theme of the whole project; me calling and not getting a response and then hours later finally hearing from him. I honestly was pretty apathetic about the poor communication aspect, even when he once did not show up or send anyone to work on a day he was scheduled to work. I figured as long as he got the job done and it looked good, that was the most important thing.
The thing that really pushed me over the edge from mild irritation to anger and disbelief took place after he had finished the project (several days after the date when we had agreed). The problem was after I had paid Hugo (in cash, as he requested), when I realized within a couple of days that the bathroom fan he installed was not working properly. Not only did it not work to eliminate the steam, but it was also dripping a beige liquid onto the toilet, rug, and floor! When I called Hugo to let him know and schedule a time for him to come take a look, he outright refused, telling me «it is not my problem, it is your problem». He said «we installed the fan, and now we are done». I could not believe my ears. He even went beyond that, saying that it was likely my fault, as the fan I chose was bad. So glad he told me that AFTER we had him install the fan (which was brand new). The conversation did not end well, with him essentially refusing to help. I did tell him that I did not think this was fair and that I was going to write a negative review as he refused to complete the job he had begun. Well, four hours later, he shows up at my house without notice and says, «I will unplug the fan and come and look at it later. Perhaps you need to buy a new fan with a heater. We will come back and install it for an extra $ 200 or more.» WHA?! I
I called a different handyman with a lot of good reviews on Unilocal and scheduled for him to come and see what was wrong. The experienced, helpful, kind handyman arrived, took one look at the bathroom fan Hugo installed and laughed, telling me that it was «a sloppy, sloppy job» and that the fan itself was not the problem, but rather that it had not been installed properly. About an hour and $ 80 later he managed to fix it and yes — it works just fine now!
I do have a few other reservations about Hugo’s work that I feel I should pass on. Hugo asks to be paid in cash. Not check, certainly not credit card, but cold hard cash. And he also would ask for cash prior to being finished with the job. He would come to ask how much cash I had on hand occasionally. I would say «maybe like $ 40?», and he would look irritated and tell me he needed $ 200 – 300 right then and there, requesting for me to go to the bank so he would have cash that same day (midway through the project). Also, he frequently told us how busy he was and he often expressed frustration that he was still working on our bathroom. It was weird because he would not show up for a couple of days, and then when he returned, he would act like the delay was somehow caused by us (being one of the many jobs he had decided to book at the same time). It was confusing. Hugo himself mostly supervised a team of others and was usually not on site himself. Luckily, my wife speaks Spanish and was therefore able to communicate with the people he hired to work under him, people who were very nice but also often seemed confused about the exact task they were supposed to be doing.
The tile, tub, and paint look good, but after getting the second opinion that the leaky fan had been such a «sloppy job» we’re just hoping the tile is installed properly so we don’t have to hire someone to come re-​repair that part, as well!!!

On the recommendation of a good friend, we hired Hugo to remodel two baths and our kitchen. Hugo, Rolando, Luis, Ronnie and Romero did an excellent job at a fair price. We are completely pleased with the quality and completeness of what turned out to be a slightly more complex project than we originally had planned. His team made several good suggestions, and were willing to work with us on changes as the job progressed. The finished product turned out better than my wife and I had imagined.
We would definitely recommend Hugo, he is pleasant to work with, knowledgeable and well qualified. He has assembled an excellent team and will get the job done.

Hugo Escobar has helped with a variety of projects at my home. He is capable and polite and has even improvised solutions to problems no one else would touch. This is a trustworthy man and a pleasure to be around. He has been flexible and has answered calls in unexpected situations.

So hard to find a good and honest contractor these days. I called two guys before Hugo. The first one gave a bid and set a date to start. The start day came and went. No show. I called. No answer. So, I called another contractor. This guy gave me a bid that was six times the amount of the first guy. Finally, I called Hugo. He was great from the start. I told him what I needed done. He told me if I wanted to see his work to go and check his crew out on a job site. I did. They were jamming and the work was awesome. Hugo came to my place the next day, measured, and gave me a bid that was actually LOWER than the first guy (the no show). Two days later he and the crew showed up as promised and knocked out repairing and reinforcing an old dry rotted covered porch in my 1903 victorian. I am definitely calling Hugo for any and all future jobs on my home.

December 24^th: my kitchen sink with garbage disposal starts backing up. I call my home warranty folks, and they tell me I can’t get anyone until the 26^th. Fine. December 26^th: nobody comes, nobody goes. I call the home warranty folks back to find out why. Oops. We forgot to put the order through. Plumber finally comes in on the 27^th to fix the garbage disposal and lets me know there’s nothing wrong with it, and since the unit does not have a clean-​out, the warranty won’t cover the unclogging of the pipes under the sink. The plumber has to charge me retail price: $ 128 an hour for service (times two, he thinks) and $ 178 for the unclogging part. I tell him I am not prepared to pay over $ 400 and send him on his way. Instead, I do a search for a local plumber and find Hugo via Unilocal.He gives me an estimate of $ 100 max. It sounds too good, but I’m desperate. He comes on a Saturday morning and works for close to two hours on unclogging the pipes. He replaces a cracked pipe that will inevitably start leaking soon enough and another one that’s lost all traction (which is why, it turns out, I failed when I tried to fix everything myself the night before). All his labor including going out to buy parts and the parts he bought cost me less than $ 145. I never thought I’d miss washing dishes in my sink this much. Thanks, Hugo, for putting me at ease and saving the holiday weekend before New Year’s Eve!

Hugo came out and fixed my leaky toilet, put chicken wire to prevent bird’s nest in my dryer vent, and most importantly re-​did the patching of my family room ceiling. My family room ceiling was previously opened up to fix water damage, but the patch work that was done by someone recommended by the plumber was not good. Hugo re-​did the patchwork and looks as good as new.

I have used Hugo for several repairs at home from fixing a door, to unclogging my bathroom toilet… he is very funny, yet professional and reliable. I always enjoy when he comes and fixes my stuff!