Home Breakthrough LLC

Home Breakthrough did exceptional work and I am having them do some other things for me as well.

The work went well. The HB workers were skillful, on time, efficient and they cleaned up their work area well. They scheduled their work times to cause the least inconvenience for the family.

Love, love, love working with Francisco and the Home Breakthrough team. This was our second time working with them, and as with the first time Francisco took time and care up front to understand our needs and goals, take detailed measurements, and provide alternative ideas and make recommendations for things we weren't sure about. His team are solid, dependable professionals who showed up reliably and got the job done well. Both they and Francisco were very communicative, letting us know immediately when they encountered unexpected issues (such as the water damage in the breakfast room), providing alternative solutions to choose from as well as their best professional recommendations, and working with us to bring the project in at a reasonable cost. They were also very responsive, for example as we worked out final details like number of new electrical outlets required, and ensured all such final details were complete. This is a family business and it shows, in all the best senses: both in the relationships with the team and with us as clients. Highly recommend this company for all home renovation projects.

My experience with them was not as good. They ended up giving me a price quote for the remodel, but they never actually gave me the 3D with the entire measurements model. What stands out in this experience is that I never actually got the 3D model with all the dimensions. I thought the design they came up with was not great, but it was okay. I was just trying to get some ideas and assess the cost. The price was a fair price. They did not actually send what they said they were going to send. I did send them an e-mail asking where that was and they never followed-up with that. They responded with a photocopy of the line-up of all the cost for building it up instead of actually sending the diagram. They were on-time.

Beautiful job. Very professional, cooperative and considerate throughout the entire process. The crew took care to cover all of our furniture, they cleaned up after themselves. Top quality work, flawless.

He seemed like a nice guy during the measurement. However it's been two weeks and no contact or estimate has been sent. If you can't get through the basic stuff that qualifies you to do the job, what does that say for any forthcoming work quality.

They were very good. They finished on time and were within the budget.

It took him a while to actually come out. We didn't go with him. We are going room by room so right now we're in the bathroom, and the kitchen is next. There was no additional cost. I guess there was some misunderstanding on my part. I thought what was happening was I didn't know if someone with home remodeling is coming up so I guess I didn't do enough research. I thought someone was going to come out who just has ideas that they could give me like I could do this, I could do that, but that really wasn't it. It was pretty much just coming out and take measurements and say what we're going to do. I thought it was going to be more of a brainstorming and I would get a lot of ideas there which I didn't. They just looked at the kitchen and showed the footprint, and took measurements. He did send me the measurements and the drawings which was good. I guess I was looking for someone who is more artistic because I have some things I want to ask about. It just didn't go that way. It was not what I thought it was going to be. When I see the other deals like for the deck and all that, I was like, no. What they are basically doing is they are coming out because this is what their business is, and so they kind of tie to having things done a certain way. Of course I come to their business which I have no problems with, it's just tied tightly into that and it wasn't enough. I didn't want just my kitchen. I wanted what my kitchen could be.

It went well and as expected. Francisco was very knowledgeable in space design and walked us through the process. He met us at all vendors and helped us pick out all tile, cabinets, granite, etc. We were very happy with his cabinet retailer Reico, and our cabinets are gorgeous. The work went smoothly and we always had excellent communication with the vendor We were a little disappointed though that once the work started, Francisco disappeared. I understand that the job foreman is now in charge, but it would have been nice for Francisco to see the finished kitchen. People get busy, we understand that. I hope that Home Breakthrough has continued to have great success.

The work went very well, was performed within the budget and timeframe given, and I have gotten complements on the bathroom, especially the custom tile work.

Provider was not in my local area

It was just superb. I really liked Francesco from our first consultation. He was genuine and open. He listened and offered advice. He was flexible and did not stick to his own views, but was super open to improve on mine. He was willing to start as soon as two days after the first consult. and we did. His team was really good -- Oscar and Juan. They were always on time and very hard working. Francesco was in touch all the time, updating with any issues and questions. There were a number of unanticipated surprised in the project -- you open up the floor of a bathroom and it's Pandora's box! Francesco was always calm and very reasonable in dealing with a broken pump, corroded pipes, water leaks. You name it. Fixing them was also at a reasonable additional price to the original contract. I am really impressed -- I had done a lot of research before contracting with Home Breakthrough. I practically read all of the reviews on Angie's list, the good and the bad. I sort of knew what to expect and was super pleasantly surprised to be at the receiving end of the absolute best. I asked Francesco and his team to come back and fix two other bathrooms in my house! If you know what you want, they are excellent in delivering. and if you are exploring -- they are perfect at giving ideas and then delivering! Really like working with them. Thanks Francesco, Oscar, and Juan!

the contractor sat in my house for 4 hrs. to give me a price of almost 9000 dallars and we could not get that price if we didn't sign right there and then told him straight this was something caught us from be hind the insurance was paying so much and offered financing at 21% to 19 % its bad enough to have the problem and do it in a price I can offered without giving a leg and arm for it. does anyone pay attention to the economy.

I would have to commit to the project then go out with contractor to select materials before I could really look at anything related to a new design of my bathroom. Basically spent $75 to have a contractor come to my house and try to sell me on their services - a complete waste of money.

We got proposals from a number of contractors/kitchen remodelers. Most listened to our ideas, took a look at the space, and gave us a $50K-$75K price tag for everything, including one who didn't feel we needed to take the walls and ceiling down! I knew there were surprises lurking in our walls and we'd end up spending more than the original quote. Home Breakthrough was the only company to provide an itemized proposal that covered labor only (~$15,000). This meant we could control part of the expense based on the finishes we chose and also gave us a very clear picture of what our money was getting us. The straightforward proposal and construction knowledge of Francisco and his brother made them the obvious choice for us. Going into this renovation we had very clear ideas about what layout and look we wanted so we didn't need a ton of guidance from Francisco but he was able to provide creative solutions (about relocating an AC duct for example) or suggestions (ideal spacing needed between a cabinet and appliance). When we didn't see anything we liked at The Tile Shop, he recommended Architectural Tile which we'd never heard of and had exactly what we wanted. We ordered cabinets and countertops through Reico based on his recommendations and with his 3D rendering and the Reico kitchen designer's expertise, placing that order was a breeze. They do add a 15% charge to items ordered through them but in both cases their discount was equal or greater to that fee anyway. One thing we really want to commend Francisco on was his willingness and patience to squeeze every inch out of our kitchen. In order to finish jobs quickly and efficiently, they normally they like to order cabinets first, then demo a couple weeks before the cabinets are set to come in. Because every inch counted in our tiny kitchen, Francisco thought it best to demo first to get our true measurements (replacing plaster with drywall meant gaining some space) and was willing to have very small filler spaces in the cabinet plans which left him little room for error on the install. This was huge for us because we ended up gaining more cabinet space than the original plan and it allowed us to have a double trash pull out instead of one. Once the kitchen was gutted, they found a number of structural issues that had to be addressed. That meant temporary support walls, rerouting pipes and electrical in the basement to make way for lolly columns, new header, new footer in basement, etc. adding ~$10,000 to the cost of the renovation. Home Breakthrough fixed the issues and seemed to genuinely feel bad about the unexpected expense and delay in the project. Francisco was in touch with us throughout the entire project. Calling to give us updates, meeting us at the house to discuss issues as they arose, talking through project details (light switch placement, recessed light spacing, knob placement, etc.). When mistakes were made he was quick to apologize and remedy it right away. We've worked with contractors in the past who's default response to a mistake was to explain why it wasn't their fault/responsibility so this was a refreshing change. In the end our kitchen came out better than everyone expected. While it might be small, it's a show stopper. We waited to write this review until we'd lived with the kitchen for a few months just in case any issues came up. We ended up with a stain on our tile backsplash because it wasn't sealed properly and a leak under our kitchen sink. Francisco was extremely apologetic and got people out to fix both issues ASAP. We whole heartedly recommend them and plan to use them on future projects.

It was wonderful having someone speaking so frankly about an idea we had had for our condo. He spent a great deal of time listening to our ideas and offered good counsel on what we could realistically do.

I purchased an Angie's List deal to get a meeting with a design consultant and a 3-D rendering of our kitchen for a remodel we are considering. It seemed like a good deal since it would give us a sense of what we could do with the space and the scope of the project. The designer met with for 3 hours (when we had anticipated him needing us for only one hour) and tried to get us to sign a contract for the remodel. We also discussed potentially working with him on a small project that we were looking to complete sooner than the kitchen reno. When I called the office to inquire about the 3-D rendering, I was told the designer would need to come back to our house (a 3-hour visit was insufficient!). I was also told that he'd wanted to schedule a meeting to have us sign the contract for the small additional project. I said that I'd like to see the contract/SOW before he came back. I never heard from anyone again. Not only did we waste $75 for a design consultation that is typically free, we wasted 3 hours of our time during a work day. I'm not sure if this is a question of a misunderstanding, but the Angie's List deal was pretty straightforward--$75 for a 3-D rendering, which we never received. Instead we felt pressured to sign a contract with them for work we made clear we did not yet have an intention of beginning.

I prepaid Angie's List $75 for 3 bathroom designs and what I received was interesting ideas but no drawings. Time wasted, $75 gone up in smoke.

I waited three months to write a review because I wanted to work in my kitchen for awhile first. Anything is going to look bright and shiny immediately after the service is complete. Well, after three months I still love my kitchen and find myself down in the kitchen/dining area much more than before. Our "before" kitchen was totally dysfunctional. The house was built in 1956 and there simply was not enough storage and certainly not enough outlets - we only had two. I worked with Francisco to come up with a new design that fit into the 10' x 10' space. It took us three or four times together to come up with something we liked. We signed the contract and work began January 2nd. The whole process took two months although there were a couple of weeks when we had no workers were here because we were waiting for the delivery of the cabinets. Francisco had asked if his crew could begin before all materials were received and considering the scope of the project I said "yes". The outcome is gorgeous. I have white cabinets (Ultracraft from Reico), stainless appliances, white quartz countertops, and our backsplash is silver rain glass tile from The Tile Shop. The whole place is bright and happy. Francisco worked with us on our budget and made helpful suggestions to keep the cost down. We didn't always take his suggestions but he was always gracious. Antonio and his crew were polite and on time. They cleaned up every day after they finished. There was even one time when I went grocery shopping when one of the crew stopped working long enough to help carry in my bags. The cost of our renovation was high because we went with custom cabinetry to make use of every square inch of space. We added things such as two pull-out pantries, knife drawer, spice drawers (two), built-in bookshelf, cutlery insert, and a special cabinet just for my heavy Kitchen-Aide mixer. I only wish we had found this company sooner because our major renovations are now complete. If we had more major renovations in our plans we would definitely use this company again. Our only discomfort was working with a "labor only" quote but that allowed us to control costs better than a "everything included" quote that was then full of hidden surprises.

The work was done quickly and well. The overall price and quality of the services were great. There were minor issues with the clean up, but overall we are very happy with the final product and highly recommend Home Breakthroguh.

After years of procrastinating on remodeling our worn out, outdated kitchen, I contacted several companies on the list. By the end of the two hour meeting with Home Breakthrough's designer, Francisco, I knew I had found the right company. Francisco listened patiently to my frustrations with my old kitchen and my wish list. I was impressed with his knowledge of construction and his problem solving suggestions. After signing the contract (which clearly detailed the scope of work, cost, time frame and possible additional expenses), I corresponded/met with both Francisco and Anya, the office manager, to work out a design plan. Talking with them helped to reassure me and give me confidence. They were meticulous in taking measurements and rechecking to assure accuracy. During the next several months of selecting cabinets, tiles, countertop, etc., I came to trust their recommendations and expertise in these areas. I was very nervous about facing all the purchasing decisions I had to make before the work could begin and I sometimes felt overwhelmed. During our shopping trips, Francisco was especially patient and good natured with my frequent indecisiveness. He offered suggestions but was open to what my design preferences were and with my ordering some materials online. Our project manager, Antonio, was on the job site most days, performing much of the electrical, plumbing and tile work himself. He addressed our question/concerns and kept us informed of each days work schedule. Antonio, Roberto, Ignacio and the other workers who came were courteous, took great pride in their work and treated our house with the utmost care.They worked diligently, sometimes into the evening/weekends in order to finish on schedule. There were some change orders which added to the initial costs, but these were explained to us ahead of time. We appreciated how Home Breakthrough worked with us to stay within our budget without sacrificing quality. Overall, the whole process went very smoothly and we are thrilled with the results: A beautiful and efficient kitchen that we are proud to share with family and friends!

Everything went well. There were minor glitches and some changes that were required and added to the cost, but all were well explained and justified. I use the company repeatedly and recommend them without reservation.

Remodel bathroom and kitchen in sequence. Bathroom project: Pros: Quality of work was excellent handled by Antonio and his crew. Project was finished with a few days delays (2.5 weeks instead of 2 weeks). Cons: Francisco, the lead person handling initial customer contact was very responsive and friendly before contract signing, but after contract signing he was a different person. He has limited interest in serving customers well. As part of service he indicated he would accompany to purchase materials to be used in project. However he has no patience. In one case he stopped taking my calls and asked me to ?call his assistant to set-up an appointment? to speak to him on phone. He expects a customer to pick out everything with 1 -2 visits. Beyond that it is waste of time for him (as he needs to focus on getting new business from other customers) and he kept claiming that he is not making any money (despite charging me $12,000 just for labor which increased subsequently- read below). He had promised a timeline, then informed me that his cousin walked away so he would have less crew available (in the end this was not a big issue since they finished with just 2-3 days delay). Be very careful in what is actually written in contract. He had conveyed to me that the commission of 10-15% they charge on materials purchased is by splitting the 30% discount HBR has from suppliers between customer and HBR. However, even in cases where HBR did not have any discounts from suppliers on items on sale, HBR still tried to charge me the commission (in such case I could have purchased the items without HBR). In course of this project I was present almost daily to monitor work. Kitchen project: Francisco tried to rush me into selecting a kitchen that I was not satisfied with (again he is not interested in taking time to serve customers well but instead you feel pressured to move quickly so he can go take care of other business). I took my time to select a kitchen I liked. Project was delivered behind schedule (6-7 weeks instead of 3 weeks). The timeline Francisco indicated was not realistic in contrast to what Antonio (his brother) indicated after they started. Unfortunately I was not present personally present to monitor progress for this project so I have impression they slacked by working on other projects. I had concerns about some items Francisco promised they do without charging extra (for example installing lighting under kitchen cabinets, or replacing light fixtures) but which Antonio charged me for because he said it was not specified in the contract. I ended up paying a couple thousand dollars more than the original contract. On kitchen cabinets measurement side, it turns out Francisco overlooked three important items: (1) an island wall had to be demolished unexpectedly and rebuilt since cabinet was oversized, (2) a drawer was hitting oven door, so required some adjustment to gas pipe of oven to make more space in back for oven, (3) dimension of countertop turns out to partly cover a drawer when opened- after countertop was installed, it was too late to make any adjustments. A good/experienced kitchen designer would likely have anticipated and avoided some of these items before work starts. The project was delivered partly unfinished with various punch list items that showed sloppy finishing work that was sub-standard compared to the bathroom project. After a complete walk-through/inspection, Antonio took care of all punch list items well, so final product was excellent. During the kitchen project, I never received any more contact from Francisco and to this date (1-21-2015) he never bothered to contact me to check if I was satisfied or to thank me for my business. I ended up spending about $45,000 or more on labor plus materials for both bathroom and kitchen projects. Yet I have yet to receive from HBR a complete statement showing all charges and payments with receipts (for materials they purchased using my credit card) so that I can check all items and also for tax records. They sent receipts for payments I made in bits and pieces so it is hard to reconcile everything. They had also indicated they provide refunds for returned unused materials (of which there were some) but this was not done yet. Conclusion: I may use HBR again for quality of workmanship. However, one must be very careful about what is promised (make sure it is all clearly documented in contract to avoid any misunderstandings), ensure they will be monitored daily or every other day (despite that one of Francisco?s ?selling point? was that they take care of everything for customers even when they are overseas- which was not consistent with my experience), check carefully promised completion timeline (by double checking it with Antonio who does the actual labor with his crew). Francisco would do well to be more patient and available to serve customers until project is completed in same way he does before a contract is signed. By contrast, Antonio and his crew were very pleasant, patient, responsive, listened well, and were generally willing to take care of small details here and there.

After reading the glowing reviews on Angie's list and meeting with Francisco I had very high hopes for this company. There were too many ups and downs in our remodel to even go into all of them, but I will do my best to highlight the most important. I don't know if they were just going through a rough patch during our renovation, but the prior reviews did not at all reflect our experience. Lets start with the positives. Pros: 1. The final product of our bathroom is beautiful 2. The subcontractors who did the tile work and drywall/painting were excellent. I LOVE our tile work. 3. When mistakes were made they seemed to genuinely be sorry and tried to make things right 4. They were neat and conscientious about cleaning up Cons: 1. Project cost twice as much as original estimate--we were expecting to spend around 12k for this and ended up costing 24k (probably more because I stopped counting small charges from home depot on my card after a certain point). There were some changes to the plan along the way which we agreed to and some unexpected things that came up--that happens. Just way more than we were expecting to spend. 2. Project took 4 months to be completed. We were quoted 2-3 weeks. This was for various reasons--some of which were out of their control (vendor issues--but vendors they recommended) and some were within their control (i.e. ordering the wrong thing, installing things wrong, not realizing the wrong thing had been ordered even though it was sitting there for weeks). Even at the end when there was just a few things to be done, it kept getting put off. It felt like the remodel that would not end. 3. Lack of design ahead of time. There was no clear design ahead of time which led to scrambling on the back end. For example, we ordered toilet topper and then they tell me at the end that the wall cannot support one and acted like I should have known this. There was no place for towel racks. We eventually found work arounds for these issues, but a design would have been hugely helpful. I should have known better, but I thought that Francisco was the designer and would have planned for this. I take 50% responsibility for this one. 4. Things done wrong, sometimes more than once. I'll just give the most egregious example here. OK, so the first time they installed our shower door it was not correct and the pieces came unglued within days. I notified them of this--they were planning to come fix it, but not urgently bc they were busy. Fast forward several days--the glass shower door falls off the track while I'm in the shower and shatters in a million pieces resulting in some minor cuts on my legs and feet. To their credit, they cleaned up the glass that morning and were extremely apologetic. I forgave them because they so quickly tried to make it right. Then several weeks later once the new door comes, they install it wrong--again! I can tell this just by looking at it. I call Francisco and he explained that the person who installed it had never done it before--WHAT???!! This was a shower door that THEY recommended and it had already broken once and they send someone who has never done it to install it? This is inexcusable to me. So came a third time and installed it right. I personally would not use them again, only because the thought of going through all that again gives me palpitations. But the final product was good, so I would not say that no one should use them. Again, I got the impression that it was a busy and tumultuous time for their business so this may not be typical. I would recommend getting a clear design ahead of time, be flexible on time and money (which probably is true for any job like this) and double check things yourself.

This is my first experience with a full fledged remodeling job and working with a contractor. This company follows through on their appointments and provide very frank and expert opinions about the job requirements. From 1st phone call to job completion, the time was around 12 weeks. Once we were committed to the job, I felt like I was their only customer. There were 3 points of contacts that would take my calls and find a solution to my concerns or questions. The design process was simple and the designer would guide to better decisions than you thought possible. The network of suppliers that the company had were good, easy to work with and had a variety of quality choices. The work was methodical, expeditious and quality. They made it look so easy to do, but I know it's hard work. I would recommend this company to all my friends here in the DC area.