Tough Guys Home Improvements

The first thing to settle with Tough Guys Home Improvements is paperwork: the Massachusetts registry lists the firm's Home Improvement Contractor registration, number 206334, as expired, held under the name "tough guys home improvement." In Massachusetts that registration is what backs a homeowner's access to the state Guaranty Fund, so its status is worth confirming before any money changes hands. The Centerville, MA company is run by two principals its customers name over and over — Wally and Daniel — and works across Cape Cod on remodels, decks, painting and structural carpentry. Thumbtack records 18 hires, six employees and 13 years in business, made the firm a 2022 Top Pro, and shows a background check on Daniel Viegas De Abreu completed in April 2024. The Angi and HomeAdvisor listings note that Spanish is spoken. When the work suits them, customers are warm about it. A Thumbtack reviewer writing in September 2024 described support beams installed where a wall had been and called the work thorough. In a May 2022 Houzz review a homeowner described a long hallway wall removed and the ceilings and decorative trim matched back in, "while ensuring structural integrity without the wall." A commercial building owner writing in October 2023 said that after months of getting the runaround elsewhere, Tough Guys quoted within days and finished the punch list in two weeks. Speed of estimates and phone responsiveness come up repeatedly, including from a May 2023 Angi customer who managed a whole job remotely from photo samples. Against that sits one long, specific account that a homeowner should read in full. Writing on Houzz in April 2023, a customer who hired the firm for a full gut renovation said the scope was beyond the company's expertise, alleged the contract violated Chapter 142A Section 2.6 by charging a 50% deposit up front, and described drywall hung without strapping, fourteen holes cut in a ceiling and patched with joint compound, standard drywall used in a bathroom instead of moisture-resistant board, missing insulation behind an exterior wall, a shower floor that would not drain, and framing that left an electrical panel unable to fit. They said they fired the company in March 2023. Thumbtack's own distribution echoes some unevenness: 74% five-star, but 21% of its 19 ratings sit at three stars or below. The pattern that emerges is a capable small crew on decks, framing, painting and mid-size remodels, with a weaker record on whole-house gut jobs. The written record runs 2022 through 2024. If you are considering them, confirm the HIC registration is current, keep the deposit inside what state law allows, and ask for references on a project the size of yours.