Additions, etc. - Gasper Custom Carpentry - 215-364-2400.
George says - "I haven't used these guys yet, but probably will if I ever have an home addition to do. I've always seen their calendars showing off their work and I've continued to be impressed. They will do not only home additions, but sun rooms, porches, poole houses, custom sheds, garages / carports, pavilions, decks, outdoor kitchens, pergolas, trellis/arbors, and custom fencing. As they are coming from PA, you may be able to arrange for materials portion to be tax free as an out of state installation."Air Conditioning and Heating - More of a note than a recommendation.
George says - "Generally, unless you have an oil heating system, you do not need regular maintenance on your system. Spend your money on 1 carbon monoxide detector per room (2 for larger great rooms). Also spend the money on the PSEG worry free contract which covers 1 pound of freon per unit; to boot you'll have a great insurance program for when things go wrong. The main maintenance you need to do is to change your filters every 2 months. If you are unable to do that, then yes, I guess it's important to have a maintenance contract. You generally don't have to wait more than a day or so for them to come out to fix it and most fixes are over $400 to do, so it's worth the contract, especially on older systems. If you have an older system (more than 13 years) that hasn't had anything major go wrong, it may make sense to have a periodic maintenance 1 x every 1 or 2 years to check the systems. A.J. Perry is decent and not overly priced $80 or so for a maintenance visit / unit. I have done this and they have found blowers and switches that were faulty before they broke and by calling PSEG with the worry-free contract (let them know it isn't working properly, they will send someone out - show that guy the AJ Perry notes and make part of the record that you are concerned about fire or health issues due to waiting, and they will simply fix it rather than be faced with a lawsuit down the line). So, worry free contracts are a big recommendation - with periodic maintenance by A.J. Perry (so long as you don't get duped into their annual contract which they will try and hard sell you on."
Appliance and TV installation - Ken Harada - cell - 609-584-9010
George says - "He does most of his work through Mrs. G's to facilitate install on appliances purchased through them but will work for any installation purchased from any vendor. Reasonably priced and does a good job."
Cabinets - custom kitchen, etc. - George 732-238-7035
George says - "I haven't used him, but I heard good things. I did try and use him in the past, and he's a bit hard to get in touch with. This is an indirect referral only.
Carpenter - Rob - 732-570-9262
George says - "Rob looks like a 70's rocker turned dad, but he can build just about anything. He's a finish carpenter, who can build great shelves and basic cabinets. His work is 8 of 10 furniture-grade, 10 out of 10 garage-grade. His pricing is roughly 2/3 of what you would normally find for a handyman so it's great value for the quality. If you are looking for high end kitchen cabinets with solid joined doors, you should go to George the cabinet guy, but if you are looking to upgrade your garage or build some nice shelving for the basement he's your guy. He will also repair wood rot in outdoor window sills and rough frame new rooms if you are finishing your basement or attic."Carpet Company - Worldwide Flooring - (609) 530-9600
George says - "They are the cheapest guys in town with quality installation. Turn around time is not the best, and be careful of the shifty salespeople, but if you go in with a helmet on, you will come out with a great deal - better than the home improvement stores. Note the fine print that stairs are not included in their "free installation" though, but you can negotiate for that and for a slightly lower price - so long as you do it ahead of time."Electrician - Tim Tafrow Electric - (609)240-6790
George says - "Much less than the other guys in town, and does a great job - trustworthy. He set up my generator to power parts of my circuit breaker so I don't have to worry about flooding again in the Princeton area."
Excavation - Dave Dobrowolski - D.P.D. Contractors - 609-462-7223
George says - "Dave is fairly priced, is the owner, and has a good assortment of equipment and experience to get the job done quickly and professionally. I had a number of stumps from trees that were cut/fell that I needed removed with his backhoe. He has a rubber tire backhoe that cost me $650 for 8 hours including him operating and the equipment/gas. In one day, we pulled 100 tree stumps out, plus he dug a 75 ft. swail/trench for water drainage, so you can see how much he can do. He also has a power rake that will fluff and grade uneven soil to prep it ready for grass. I am going to use him for the spring to regrade my septic field and some other areas that I cleared for grass as well."
Furniture Repair - Total Leather Care - Chris - 215-802-6758
George says - "They will fix any tears in your leather or vinyl furniture. They are based on Phili, but they will come to your home and Princeton is in their repair radius. I have used them and it generally costs no less than $100 per fix, so keep that in mind before calling. Also there is a $50 trip charge to pay that is applied only if you have them do the work. Most jobs take one day or less to complete. Unless they are willing to warranty the job, it is not worth doing - not all problems are at a level where they are comfortable to warranty the job, so be sure to ask."
Handyman - Todd @ All Trades of NJ (609) 468-5606 alltradesofnj@gmail.com
George says - "Todd is a great all around handyman. He can do light carpentry work, like fixing dry rot wood siding on your home, to replacing faucets, to tiling a floor, to even gc'ing a light build-out like a home theater or attic office from rough carpentry to paint and finish drywall. Modest pricing, always on time, and completely trustworthy family man."Inspectors (Home) - Leo Stinson - Lawrenceville - 609-430-1030
George says - "Good guy. Experienced in the area and knows what he's talking about. I used him for our home and he actually inspected it for the past 2 owners!"Insurance Company - Liberty Mutual -
George says - for the greater Princeton area, this is the best game in town. Note that they all have rates that are way too high, but these are the lowest of the bunch. You get special pricing for bundling your home, cars, and umbrella liability together. Be SURE to get the coverage for sump pumps if you have a basement as high water in this area is common and if power goes out your sump pump battery may not make it - especially if you are out of town or are asleep through the night.Landscaping - Luis Rosario Landscaping (609) 638-6347 or (609) 393-8243
George says - "I can't speak more highly of this guy. He has very low prices with great results. Be sure to negotiate with him as his first offer is not his best price. Specialty is mulch, edging, fall and spring cleanup, and fertilizing. He also does a great job clearing / cleaning out woodland areas and making them civilized as well as specialty requests like core aerating and stump grinding when the job is large enough to justify equipment rental. He does not do mowing though"Landscaping - Tree Removal - Joe Ellis (609) 651-9973 or (609) 349-9620
George says - "I have not used him before but I have met him. He owns one of the larger tree stump grinders and as a result he might be a more cost effective solution for you if you have only between 1-15 tree stumps to remove. I would use Luis to cut and remove the trees and him to actually grind the stumps. When asked he gave me a price of $100 for 1 stump but $50 for 15 - negotiable in between. If over 15 stumps, it might be more economical to have Luis do the full job and rent the equipment."Landscape Lighting - 1 Stop Lighting - http://www.1stoplighting.com/
George says - "I can't speak to all of their products, but I used one of the premier local Princton landscaping companies and all they use are Focus brand products. They are generally solid brass landscape fixtures. In particular, I use the Focus RXD-01-BAR for directional landscape lighting. It is solid brass and will last a lifetime. This particular one will work with either standard MR-16 or LED MR-16 bulbs (the latter of which use 1/20 the electricity). These are regularly $79.00 each. You can find them online for around $50, and at 1 Stop Lighting they were $35. For a trick, if you call 866-203-5392 x 226 and ask for Mari, tell her that you called in the past and she agreed to give you free shipping with just the purchase of one of these in the past. She agreed to do this for me after first offering 5% off my order, which could be the other alternative depending on what is more for you. Generally shipping is $15, so the savings was best this way."
Metal Refinishing (door hardware, chroming, etc.) - normandyhome@gmail.com - scott sarkisian / Normandy metal refinishers
George says - "I used them to refinish our Baldwin estate entry + brass knocker from its pitted brass state to an oil rubbed bronze. It came out great and saved about $500 in the process."Painting (Indoor and Outdoor) - Olympic Painting - Christos Liakris - 609-291-0681 or 609-683-7522
George says - "Very good guy and trustworthy in your home by himself. He will give you a flat quote with what needs to be done and will negotiate to some degree - especially if you have more than one thing to get done as a package. He is a little slow in getting around to scheduling the job, but once he starts, he will quickly finish and will come daily until finished. We had some very high dormers as well as a peeling problem with our exterior siding that he did a really good job sanding/scraping/sealing and painting. We also had some interior work that was also very well done."Paving (Asphalt Driveways) - art.rjhicks1@gmail.com - Art Hicks - 609-847-1237
George says - "I used them to seal coat my driveway with lots of cracks and potholes. It's a 2 time job (once in the fall and once again in the spring), but he did a good job for a fair price. My neighbor used him to repave and while not the cheapest, does a really good job repaving with a solid 3 inch application."
Radon Testing - Radiation Data - Rocky Hill -609-466-4300
George says - "When you are buying or selling a home and/or want the test results to be official. Otherwise, there are $10 tests you can buy from Home Depot, but come on - your family is worth the extra comfort of doing it right."
Roofer (small, minor repairs only) - Leszek Janczuk "Lester" 609-393-4743
George says - "He's a very old Polish roofer who must still smoke 14 packs of cigs a day. Somehow he's still alive. He has a younger Polish roofer who does all the work. Can do everything from replacing your roof to fixing roof vents, flashing, and missing tiles. Good quality and good price - you can haggle with him on the price, especially if paying in cash. Do not use him for anything other than very simple work like replacing a gutter or a couple of shingles that blew off during a storm."
Roofer (major repairs and replacing roof) - C&C Roofing 609-430-1770
George says - "I used them to completely replace my roof. Jeff was my estimator who I found to be fair. They will negotiate so do not take their initial offer at face. With coupons, discounts for paying by check and general price negotiation, I was able to take off 10% off the original asking price. He wasn't the cheapest, but they are licensed, insured (very important as it's easy for someone to get hurt while doing this and you don't want them coming after you), and pull proper permits which are all necessary when you go to sell the house. As important, they arrived when they said, worked with a large team to quickly finish, and cleaned up after each day. I was honestly impressed and the slight premium is worth it. To boot, they use GAF shingles which have been around for 120 years and provide a 50 year transferable labor and materials contract for any damage for any reason (other than say a tree falls on your house)."Roofer (minor repairs gutter cleaning and windows) - Marco Romero 267-597-0407
George says - "This is the subcontractor that C&C Roofing uses above. He was the one who did my roof and Lynn and Carlo's roof and did a great job on both. I also used him for gutter cleaning. He said he has insurance to do full roof replacement directly but I haven't actually checked into that myself. You may want to do that if it if checks out sufficiently you will likely find savings by going direct."
Septic Design - Princeton Junction Engineering, P.C. - Frank Falcone - 609-799-1906
George says - "None of these guys come cheap, but these guys are generally known for being one of the best in town if you need to re-engineer your septic or build otu a new one."Septic Pumping - Russell Reid -732-225-2238
George says - "This is a relatively large company. Fair prices and they do what they say they will do, when they say they will do it."Septic Repair (pumps, etc.) - Septic Systems New Jersey -908-874-4669
George says - "I haven't used them yet, but I always like someone who recommends not spending money with them yet. I called about intermittent tank alarms after someone showered and they advised that pumps generally go around the 10 year mark on average - sometimes more and sometimes less. She said like brakes on your car, you can always change them out earlier if you are overly concerned, but the alarm will be going off for 30min to 1 hour at a time - that is the time to bring them in. Less alarm than that is a sign the pump is tired but not gone yet. That said, since replacing a pump usually requires pumping the tank, consider pumping cost savings by doing a pump replacement in high drought times like July and August. Feb is the highest water level times and cost the most to pump then."Septic Emergencies - Carting 911 Septic - 908-874-8785
George says - "These guys did a pretty impressive job putting in a new septic system in a neighbor's home, and I was impressed with the level of service they gave to another neighbor, so I asked them to check out the intermittent alarm I was getting. They confirmed it was a broken float, which saved a lot from what would have otherwise been a pump replacement.Solar Energy (Home) - Solar City http://www.solarcity.com
George says - "I haven't used them yet, but they will install and pay/maintain everything - you just pay a lower monthly utility bill. This company is owned by Elon Musk who also owns Tesla, and was known for founding Paypal."Snow Removal - Wayne - Princeton - 609-847-1466
George says - "I haven't used him yet, but he comes recommended by my neighbor whom I trust. Does a good job and will comment further once I have more info on him."
Utilities Flagging - PSEG - 800-272-1000
George says - "This is important to do anytime you are digging around areas that could have buried utilities. Tell them that you are doing it yourself and it will not cost you anything; otherwise there will be a fee. They will contact Verizon, Comcast, and a few other utilities so you basically just need to call this one number."
Upholstery - Seamstobe.com - 603-934-0120 JulieColby@seamstobe.com
George says - "You can either send her the upholstery fabric and pay just labor or purchase select fabrics from her and have her do it all. She is based out of NH. I find she is a little more than 50% off what you would find at a local upholstery shop around Princeton."
Well Water Testing - Blue Marsh Laboratories - Princeton - 609-924-5151
George says - "Not a real lot of info for this - he does what he's supposed to do in an official way. Good to have when buying or selling a home, and you should test your well every 3 years you live it in b/c Lord knows what will leech into there over time."
Wild Life Removal - Harbor Wildlife Control, Frank Spiecker - 732) 583-5516
George says - "His office is located at 250 E Beachwood Ave Laurence Harbor, NJ 08879. I haven't had any specific experiences using him, but I HAVE had issues with wildlife removal and couldn't find anyone to deal with them locally. I read about him in the newspaper and took down his information for potential need in the future. Anyone who has used him, let me know and I'll post your opinion. He will deal with anything from raccoons and bats to snakes and alligators."
Wrought Iron Artisan - Chris
George says - "Treasure Trove of reclaimed iron pieces. Makes great custom wrought iron gates and can fabricate whatever you are looking for. Prices are reasonable, considering he's an artisan. They don't make things like this anymore."
