West Caldwell was formed in 1904 from two settlements, Franklin and Westville, that had been part of the old Caldwell Township. It covers about five square miles, with the Hatfield Swamp preserve along its western edge toward Fairfield, Roseland and East Hanover, and it shares Grover Cleveland Park, named for the president born next door in Caldwell, with its neighbors. The town grew from fewer than five hundred residents in 1910 to almost twelve thousand by 1970, and the typical house was built in the mid-1950s. That gives West Caldwell a consistent housing stock of capes, ranches, split-levels and colonials, with some later expansions and newer homes mixed in.
Cabinet painting is the project we expect to discuss most here. Kitchens in West Caldwell houses are often solid wood cabinets from the original build or a 1980s or 90s renovation, still sound but dated. Refinishing them gives the kitchen a new look for much less than replacement and without demolition. We take off the doors and drawer fronts, degrease and sand, fill oak grain so it does not show through, prime with a bonding primer, and spray the finish coats. The cabinet boxes are masked and finished in place. We can change the hardware at the same time, and the kitchen is usually usable again within a week.
Exterior painting on a house of this age is mostly about the trim. Many have aluminum or vinyl siding over the original wood, so the work goes into the fascia, soffits, window and door trim and the bottoms of garage door frames, where water and road salt do their damage. We scrape back to sound paint, replace soft wood instead of filling it, spot-prime and re-caulk, and use vinyl-safe colors on vinyl. Chalky aluminum siding is washed and tested before painting. Because the houses predate 1978, we use lead-safe methods on painted wood as standard.
Inside, the requests are full repaints, refinished oak floors and the occasional basement or garage coated in epoxy. NJ Painting Co. is family-owned and based in Morganville in Monmouth County, and we travel north to West Caldwell for this work. We are licensed and fully insured, use premium Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams products, and every estimate is free, comes with a color consultation and is backed by a two-year workmanship warranty.
