I rarely write reviews, however, Bravo Contractors did such a fantastic job for me that I felt they…read moretruly deserve the recognition here.
First of all, I considered myself a very informed and educated consumer. I am very particular, pay extreme attention to details and I know exactly what I want. Let's put it this way, if I was in construction, I would be afraid to deal with myself as a customer. When my wife and I decided to remodel the kitchen and 2 bathrooms in our condo, the biggest challenge we faced was to find a reputable contractor for the job.
After picking out the tiles and cabinets (read my other review here for another fantastic guy to deal with), we concentrated on finding a contractor. Out of 5 contractors I interviewed, one gave me a ridiculous estimate (he got a horrible review here by the way), one was booked solid for the next 9 months, and two did not get back to me for whatever reason. Only Cesar from Bravo came out with a realistic plan for a reasonable price, so we decided to give them a try.
We started with kitchen. The crew took lots of effort and carefully tapes up the area to reduced dust. My existing hardwood floor was also covered and protected. Demolition was a non-event. Old cabinets were quickly removed. My existing island/bar was also removed so the crew can tile underneath. When they remove the existing tiles, we found the previous owner had tiled right on top of the old linoleum floor. The crew had to remove the tile, concrete, linoleum and glue to reach the bare floor. After cleaning they poured concrete on the whole floor to bring it level to the existing hardwood floor, so no threshold or reducer will be needed. Pablo and Luis did a terrific job here. The tiling process was not rushed and no shortcuts were taken. EVERY SINGLE GROUT LINE WAS PERFECTLY STRAIGHT AND ALIGNED. All of the tiles were leveled with each other. You can only truly appreciate the beauty of it if you ever tried to tile the floor by yourself. After the floor was done, carpenter Javier installed the cabinets with the upmost precision. The tight fit of the cabinets and crown moldings made these store bought cabinets look like custom made for my kitchen and appliances.
After the kitchen, we started with the bathroom. There were no surprises here. Extra cares were taken not to damage the existing whirlpool bathtub during construction. When I bought the condo, the previous owner put in the bathtub recently. However, the apron was broken and it was not level. I found a similar apron to replace, but it did not fit quite right. The crew leveled the tub, design and laid the tiles in the way to make it fits perfectly and it looks now like it came with the tub. They did it without me asking and I thought that was nice. I was a little surprised to see the crew custom build a wood frame behind the drywall to recess mount a nice Sophia medicine cabinet we bought. Most handymen would probably just cut the drywall to size and shove in the cabinet with a couple tubes worth of silicon. You can't tell the difference anyway from the outside once it's finished, but the way Bravo did it was the correct way and again no shortcuts were taken.
Our master bath was more problematic. The original layout was for us to go though a 24" door at the end of a narrow hallway between two closets. The door was always awkward to use and interfere with the closet doors. We decided to remove the door and knock down the wall from the top of the door to the ceiling. We added a pocket door outside the hallway between the closets. This modification immediately opens up the space and it does not feel so cramped anymore. Javier again did an excellent custom job and make the door way looks much more upscale than what we had. The master bath only had a standing shower. My wife always wanted to have a bathtub in there. The only option we had is to put a Japanese soaking tub in there. I found a stainless steel one online but after going over the dimensions with Cesar, we found it was almost impossible to haul it up in the bathroom without tearing the condo apart. Rather than risking the uncertainty of it not fit, we decided to have Bravo custom build one for us Pablo spend almost two weeks building this monster starting from wrapping the surrounding walls with pvc sheet to make sure it will never leak. He finished the job with glass mosaic tiles. As you can see from the picture, I can't hope for a better deep soaking tub!
As with any construction jobs, there bound to have mistakes and mishaps, but Bravo's crew always correct the issues immediately without question and hesitation. I can totally understand that one can feel almost helpless when facing the task of selecting a trust worthy contractor and start a home improvement project. Trust me and give Bravo a try. As A person who went through the whole process himself, I sincerely hope that my experience can help you save some money, headache and aggravation.
