CONFIDENT HOME REMODELERS is a New Jersey-based home remodeling company focussing on interior and exterior renovations, including additions, kitchens, bathrooms, hardwood floors, windows and doors, etc.
We do flood and fire rehab, and we can be a qualified contractor that can work with your insurance company. If there are any customers who have suffered storm damages, we can repair and rehabilitate your home. I have done several fire rehab and insurance claim jobs, and at present I am expanding this aspect of my business.
Some of our professional credentials include:
NJ DIVISION OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS --- Our NJ Division of Consumer Affairs License # is 13VH04601200.
BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU --- We are a member of the New Jersey Better Business Bureau, and we have no complaints registered. Less than 1 out of 20 contractors is a member of the BBB. We do this to demonstrate our commitment to quality work.
SERVICE MAGIC --- I have the Service-Magic Seal of Approval, plus many referral letters in their system.
INSURANCE --- We are fully insured as a General Contractor with a General Aggregate of $2,000,000. My insurance includes a $2,000,000 policy for liability, and Worker's Compensation. I own a construction van with commercial insurance.
About 2/3 of my business comes through referrals, repeat customers, and inquiries to the BBB. I still use internet-based lead services, but every year my customer and referral base grows and I have less and less need for these services.
Confident Home Remodelers relocated to Wayne, NJ (Passaic County) in 2008. I maintain a centrally location in Newark (Essex County) for storage of materials, etc. This is a great central location to do business in the North Jersey market. A 30 minute drive from my field office covers everything from Bergen County to Union County, and from Hudson County to Morris County.
We continue to serve all of Northern New Jersey. I've been involved in the sales and construction since 2003. Together, our team has over 50 years total experience in the industry. Our skill and integrity has earned us a reputation as one of the state's pre-eminent home remodeling companies.
We are in the process of developing our first manufactured product, which will be steel jamb protectors. Most of the steel and fiberglass doors sold today are way too strong to crack no matter how hard they are kicked or charged. But most still use the standard 3/4" pine jambs (jambs are the side framing around the doors). One good kick or charge, and these 3/4" pine jambs splinter at the lock or the hinges, and the door panel comes crashing in. Our new 20-guage steel jamb protectors will make this impossible, and at much lower cost than competitor options. As of September, 2011, I have provided detailed specifications and drawings to a company that will fabricate these for Confident Home Remodelers. A prototype is being made. I will provide these for my door customers, and I hope to sell them to door distributors and door manufacturers nationwide.
Our business plan is to provide absolute high-quality workmanship at very reasonable pricing. We can do this by having very little overhead, and by supervising the jobsites myself instead of hiring someone for that.
"Attention To Detail" is our entire focus. Photos are taken and printed to create a "specifications book" that stays on the jobsite. Every detail will be noted on the contract and photo-notes.
INTERIOR REHAB and ADDITIONS:
Over the past several years, we've been focussing more and more of our business on interior rehab. These services include:
- Carpentry & framing, including whole additions
- Complete flood and fire rehab
- Kitchens, including Cabinetry
- sheetrock, painting, and trim molding
- Bathrooms
- Tile work
- Concrete and patio-block paving (except around a swimming pool)
- Hardwood flooring, Laminate flooring, and more.
Many customers have been prioritizing interior projects in our economic times. My crew is experienced in all phases of interior work. Kitchens and bathrooms remain popular projects. As a General Contractor (GC), I have licensed electricians and plumbers that I use as needed.
- We use tarps to protect the portions of the house not being worked on is important.
- We work consecutive days until the project is done. Nobody want a 1-month project to go on for 6-months.
- We involve the customer in selection of materials. Most customers want quality work, and having the contractor choose the cheapest option on materials isn't always the best plan. This is especially true with tiles
- I have relationships with low-cost granite installers. Granite countertops have to be specially cut and polished by very expensive machinery at the granite warehouse/factory. The installer will come to the house, make a template of the exact size, and then come back to install the finished and polished slab. General Contractor don't have this machinery, this is something that is always subcontracted out. The informed homeowner will WANT this to be subcontrated out, including the sink basin installation
- Installing cabinets is an art. Every one of them has to be perfectly leveled and shimmed and screwed to each other. The "high point" of the floor needs to be determined before installing any of them. It doesn't take half a day to throw cabinets into a kitchen. If someone says they can do a good-sized kitchen in 4 hours, look for another Contractor. It takes longer to do it right.
- Sheetrock is also an art, and there are building codes to be followed. 5/8" for all exterior walls, and 1/2" for all interior walls and ceilings. The green sheetrock goes in basements. If you use 3/8" on a stud-framed wall, you'll have problems hanging pictures and you'll be plagued with cracks and holes. Wonderboard for bathrooms, especially wet areas such as the floor and the shower walls. 3/8" sheetrock is used ONLY to go over old plaster and lathe, and even in this case, 1/2" is better. The Roto-zip is a miracle tool when it comes to sheetrocking where there are outlets and light switches.
- Anyone can paint, but most people don't know how to do it. Sanding and spackling must be done before the painting, and this takes more time than the painting. All seams, especially between walls and molding, must be caulked. Budget rollers and brushes waste more time and cause more problems. Don't use them.
VINYL SIDING & ROOFING:
For me, every house is a "show house". The finished product will stand out, and command notice from the neighborhood. I will provide perfect workmanship, both to satisfy the customer and for my own business purposes. Passers-by and neighbors will see the quality of the work, and how fast it was installed. I'll get more business. That is key to my business plan.
I prefer Alside due to its superior fade resistance on all its lines and the strength of the warranty . We can install any brand of siding available, including Royal, Certainteed, and more. Siding manufacturers recognize that customers has different price points and design consideration. Therefore, each has high-end, mid-end, and lower-end products. We encourage energy-efficient options such as the full-back insulation that form-fits the siding. We also encourage customers to go with some of the ornamental extra's, including mantles and fluted pilasters which surround entry doors, vinyl shake, vinyl scallop, jumbo corner posts, shutters, extra wide trim around the windows, and more. Most customers come to me with strong design ideas, but for those that need suggestions, I can coordinate trim and siding color packages that will be outstanding.
We prefer GAF roofing. I will not install IKO, they do not stand by their product, which is prone to warping. We always use ice-water shield in all required areas, and aluminum drip edges. Chimney's must be properly flashed. Rotten wood must be replaced. Lay-over roofing is discouraged, and you can only do two layers. Houses with wood lathe and cedar shake must be ripped to the rafters, and then install new 5/8" plywood. Many houses built in the 1920's, 1930's, and 1940's have this problem, although some have tongue-and-groove wooden boards. Realtors are notorious when it comes to lying to home buyers about the age of the house, especially immigrants who can't look at a house and know it's age just from the shape of the house. Many people who live in houses built from 1900-1945 were told that the house was built "around 1950".
Many houses built pre-1920 have ALREADY been ripped to the rafters, and have new plywood. And houses built from 1950 onwards typically have plywood under the shingles.
WINDOWS and DOORS:
Windows are definately not a do-it-yourself project. Homeowners can easily make mistakes as follows:
- measuring the windows
- shimming and leveling them. A window has to be level in 3 dimensions. A large window often needs an additional screw in the middle of each side (despite what the manufacturer says), and it must be shimmed prior to screwing. Otherwise the sashes will be drafty and wobbly, or won't close properly.
- Properly insulating around the windows
- Properly caulking them. Missing or failed caulking causing drafts, water infiltration, and the infiltration of flies, insects and spiders and all sorts of creepy crawly things. Water infiltration will rot your sills and eventually the framing of the house or cause water damage on your walls. Some interior caulks and silicones can't be painted.
We can enlarge or reduce openings for larger or smaller windows and doors, including patio doors. We can install Andersen, Marvin, & Pella wood windows, including casements and double-hung.
Customers (and even most contractors) can't distinguish between all the caulks, silicones, and adhesives out there. There is ONE brand that is far superior to all the others for exterior applications, and it is not GE. This is a trade secret not to be revealed online. Alex and Alex-Plus painter's caulk cannot be used for the exterior, no matter what it says on the tube.
QUALITY VINYL WINDOWS --- I provide windows from several window manufacturers, depending on the quality of windows desired by the customer. I provide both wood and vinyl windows. Since the passage of the Economic Recovery Act of 2009, I sold hundreds of the energy-efficient Alside Excalibur that qualify for a 30% tax credit at tax time. The Alside Excalibur warranty is 2nd to none, and it covers vinyl cracking, warping, and chipping, mechanical problems, seal failure/fog between the panes, etc. This manufacturer is in business over 60 years, and has hundreds of distribution centers nationwide. They do not sell to homeowners, only to Contractors.
As a Contractor, I have access to every brand of window out there. We directly install every window we sell, that way I can control the quality of installation. This is what we do. Even the best brands out there will have mechanical and leak-related problems if not properly installed.
Once in a while, there is a customers who wants the manufacturer to directly installs the window, usually because they heard a sales pitch from someone who stressed this. (Most manufacturers don't install, they just make windows.) Not a problem. I have a relationship with a manufacturer who does both. In this situation, I will sell the Duragard or Weatherweld window and direct the manufacturer to do the installation.
BUDGET VINYL WINDOWS WITHOUT ENERGY-EFFICIENCY: The budget-level window that I sell is called the Anderson Silverline 1200. Anderson is known for wood windows, but a few years back they purchased the Silverline vinyl window company to capture part of the vinyl windows market. It's a budget-priced window, but has fusion-welded sashes and frames. This means it is a strong window. Usually budget windows are selected by landlords who want the cheapest window possible, and they don't care how much the tenant is paying to heat the house (until the landlord has to replace the over-worked boiler). Other budget brands out there are "mechanical", which means screwed together. They might only last 5 or 10 years, and then they get foggy between the panes, they won't stay up, the hardware breaks, and other issues. We know this because we've replaced hundreds of really junky vinyl windows made by Jersey Windows, Air-Chek Window Depot, Ideal, and others. The Silverline 1200 is the same price or within about $7 of these brands, and it will easily last 25 or 30 years. I refuse to sell or install a junk window. Typically the urban landlord or real estate "flip" investor will remove 100 year old wood windows and 30-year old storm windows, and put in vinyl windows with zero energy efficiency that lasts less than 10 years. If you are going to put in a vinyl window, be smart. They look the same, but they are NOT all the same. Not even close. Spend the extra $7 for the Silverline 1200.
It's best to choose a window manufacturers that has been around for decades. They aren't going to disappear tomorrow, so the warranty means something. From the customer standpoint of achieving peace of mind, you can't do better. These manufacturers do not advertising or marketing of their own, they don't install windows themselves, and they sell only to Contractors. It's more cost-effective for them to have a qualified and experienced Contractor who provides the customers than to hire, train, and pay salespersons, and then advertise for leads. Most consumers still won't be familiar with these company names.
SERVICES I DON'T HANDLE:
There's only a few things I don't want to be involved with in any capacity, for one reason or another:
- chimney work,
- patch (rather than replace) a leaky roof,
- basement waterproof coatings,
- clean and sanitize a moldy wall (we are not certified mold remediators). We'll do the demo, and the new sheetrock.
- asphalt work,
- boiler work, and
- storm windows.
- I don't do anything involved with a swimming pool except demolition.
Confident Home Remodelers is known for:
Please note that this website is a work in progress. Much more information will be posted here, in time.