Ridgefield takes its name from the ridge of the Hudson Palisades as it drops toward the Hackensack Meadowlands. The borough was incorporated in 1892 and covers under three square miles, with Overpeck Creek along its western side. It has three traditional sections: Ridgefield proper, Morsemere to the north, named after Samuel F. B. Morse, and Ridgefield Heights on the high ground at the eastern edge. The Grantwood area that straddles the line with Cliffside Park was an artists' colony in the 1910s, where Man Ray lived and worked. Most of the housing came later. Ridgefield had about 1,500 people in 1920 and nearly 11,000 by 1960, so a typical house here is a one- or two-family home from the 1920s to the 1960s. The Census Bureau's American Community Survey for 2020 to 2024 counts about 4,100 homes and dates 80 percent to before 1980, with 21 percent built in 1939 or earlier and another 21 percent in the 1950s, and 29 percent are in two-family houses.
Interior painting is a large part of what Ridgefield homeowners ask about. In two-family houses that often means one unit at a time, around the people living in the other. We protect floors and furniture, keep the work area tidy, finish rooms in a sensible order so you are never without a kitchen or a bedroom for long, and clean up at the end of each day. On older houses we repair drywall and sheetrock cracks properly, prime the patches, and use a bonding primer over old oil-based trim. Woodwork with decades of coats on it gets taken back by hand first. Doing that for pay on a pre-1978 house can trigger the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule, which requires a certified firm past six square feet of disturbed paint in a room or twenty outside. NJ Painting Co. is not EPA Lead-Safe Certified, so we tell you at the estimate when a Ridgefield job needs one. Finishes are premium Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams, chosen for each room: scrubbable sheens in kitchens, halls and children's rooms, flatter finishes on ceilings.
Outside, the slope matters. Houses on the hillside streets often have high rear walls where the lot falls away, so a two-story front can be three stories at the back, and we plan ladders and staging for that during the estimate. Lower ground toward Overpeck Creek and the Meadowlands sits in damper air, and shaded walls there can grow mildew, which we wash off and let dry before priming. Siding on many houses is vinyl or aluminum over the original wood. It can be cleaned and repainted, but vinyl needs a color within the manufacturer's limits so it does not warp.
Kitchen cabinets, basements and garage floors round out most jobs. Refinishing solid cabinet boxes costs a fraction of replacement, a finished basement paints up well once the walls have been checked for damp, and an epoxy coating makes a garage floor easy to keep clean through winter. As a painting contractor, NJ Painting Co. is family-owned and based in Morganville in Monmouth County, and we travel to Bergen County for jobs. We are licensed and fully insured. Every Ridgefield estimate is free, comes with a written scope and a color consultation, and the work carries a two-year workmanship warranty.
