Mmeindia in Montclair

We hired this company to convert the manual garage doors in our new home to automatic. The garage doors and their hardware were original to the house (over 40 years old) and the hardware was worn out. The electrical wiring in our garage was not conducive to adding electric door openers. In addition, the doors are abnormally low because apparently when the house was first built the garage floor sunk and the original owners repaired it by filling it in with concrete that they poured too high. Raynor did the job quickly, neatly and economically. They helped us sort out the electrical issues, fixed the old hardware so we could get a few more years out of it, and gave us a great door opener system that has worked very well. They also gave us a very reasonable quote for replacing the doors when we're ready, including solving the intricate problem of the too-low clearance (which requires redoing the cutouts of the garage door). We'll be sure to use them again when we're ready to handle this larger job.

Last summer when I bought my new home I was determined to hire an interior designer in order to help me make the house feel like a home as soon as possible. None of my local friends had used designers or decorators, so I started my search on the ASID website. After interviewing several people, I settled on Jeffrey Kracht of JK Interiors. I couldn't have made a better choice. Jeff is extremely talented and came up with some great, creative looks for my house. At the same time, he's respectful of my ideas and takes my family's needs into consideration. He especially excels at color, furniture placement, custom window treatments and accessorizing. His prices are reasonable, he understands budgetary constraints, and is flexible and patient when I have difficulty making up my mind. I have not yet used his services for a remodelling or structural project, but I look forward to working with him on projects of all kinds for years to come.

United Fireplace converted my existing wood-burning fireplace to gas last winter. They did quick, clean work at a reasonable price. The job was not easy because a gas line had to be run along the entire length of my house. It passed inspection the first time after the town inspector told me many of these types of jobs had to be redone. I was very happy with their work and I love my new gas fireplace.

Bay Roofing replaced the roof on my previous home (which we sold last year). There was one layer of roof tiles up already, so we were hoping to only have to add a layer on top. After checking it out they informed us that the roof was too damaged and they'd have to remove it completely and start from scratch. We weren't thrilled with this news but they quoted us a reasonable price and another company who bid told us the same thing. They did the new roof quickly and efficiently. However, they didn't notice that the house was missing flashing from an overhang all the way around, which caused leaking a few months later during heavy rains. At first we thought the roof had been done improperly but it turned out flashing was missing from another area. The contractor we got in to fix the problem told us it wasn't the roofers' fault, that they wouldn't necessarily have looked at the overhang, but in my opinion they were up on ladders and it was such an obvious omission that they should have noticed it, even if they didn't cause the problem. However, once we added the flashing we had no further problems, so I can't fault them for the job they did on the roof.

There are two plumbing Caputos in Verona...confusing because the one with "Joseph" in the title is actually Bob, and the other one (who goes by his initials) is Joe. They are brothers and there was some kind of personal dispute...we use this one, also known as Bob Caputo. He is super reliable, his charges are extremely reasonable, he does not charge you unless he can actually fix the problem, his work is fast and clean, and he knows a whole bunch of other good contractors to help with the things he doesn't do (like servicing our ancient boiler and cleaning tree roots out of our sewer). Bob Caputo is a must-have name if you're in the Montclair area. There's nobody better!

Ned Stevens is a very pushy gutter cleaning company that calls twice a year hoping to schedule the gutter cleaning that you "previously asked for." (They call all homes in the area and pretend that you requested their service.) I didn't fall for this, but their price was reasonable so I went ahead and let them schedule me. The gutter cleaning happened while I was on vacation, and the workers broke my garden hose so that it couldn't be shut off. Rather than trying to find a way to contact me (I'd left them my office phone number and my office staff or neighbors could have reached me), they left the property with the hose still on. Three days later I got home to find my backyard and basement flooded. After contacting the company to complain they refused to credit us (all we were asking for was not to pay for the gutter cleaning, even though it cost us about $300 to clean up the mess they made and pay for all of that water) until we threatened to sue them. Avoid this company at all costs!

Last summer I visited Montclair Antiques Center with my decorator while working on furnishing my new house. I was searching for an antique dressing table and found several options to choose from. I ended up with a gorgeous table in great condition that was just what I wanted. They gave me a discount because my dad is an antique dealer, and my decorator and I found several other unique items there. It is the best place to go in the area with the widest selection of antiques; stock changes frequently so if you don't find what you need, go back and you may later. The Center is made up of a bunch of individual dealers with booths, so customer service may vary from booth to booth, but in general the people are friendly and helpful and if they don't have what you want, they know where to get it.