Whole-home remodeling in North Jersey

21%⁴ of Bergen County's homes went up in the 1950s alone, mostly Cape Cods, ranches and colonials, and much of the rest is older still. Unless a lead-based paint inspection shows otherwise, the EPA says to treat paint in homes built before 1978 as if it contains lead.¹³ When the job sands, cuts or demolishes in one room after another, each of those rooms needs lead-safe setup. For homes built before 1978, the EPA advises hiring contractors who use only lead-safe certified renovators.¹⁴

Beyond flooring, the EPA lists vermiculite attic and wall insulation, roofing and siding shingles, textured paint and patching compounds on walls and ceilings, and hot water and steam pipes wrapped in asbestos blanket or tape among the places asbestos may be found in a home.¹⁵ Floor tile under old carpet, pipe wrap in the basement and textured ceilings are all worth sampling before a demolition date is set. The EPA advises having an accredited asbestos professional inspect before a remodel that could disturb suspect materials, and not sanding or power-stripping suspect flooring yourself.¹⁶

In a house this old, the supply piping may be galvanized steel all the way to the meter. The EPA notes that lead can collect inside galvanized pipe and later reach drinking water, and that solder made before 1986 contained high levels of lead.¹⁷ With the walls open, replacing it costs far less than it will later.

NJDEP treats underground heating oil tanks that serve homes as unregulated tanks: it doesn't regulate how they're operated, but it oversees the cleanup once a leak is discovered.¹⁸ If the house ever burned oil, an old tank may still sit in the yard or the basement, so check the closing papers, or have a tank sweep done, before an excavator digs for an addition.

Only a closure-certified individual working for a closure-certified tank firm may remove an underground residential heating oil tank in New Jersey.¹⁸ If the plan replaces an oil boiler, the tank removal belongs in the schedule and the budget, not as an afterthought. The New York market priced an electrification conversion of the heating system at $23,769¹ in the 2025 report.

Under the New Jersey Register of Historic Places Act, only public undertakings that would encroach on a listed property need state approval; strictly private projects aren't reviewable under that law.¹⁹ A privately paid renovation of a listed house doesn't go to Trenton for review.

Listing in the New Jersey or National Register doesn't restrict what private owners do, but a town's own historic preservation ordinance can.²⁰ Ask your construction office whether the house sits in a local historic district before you plan new windows, siding or a dormer.

Under New Jersey's flood hazard rules, a regulated flood hazard area and riparian zone exist along every regulated water that drains 50 acres or more.²¹ A whole-house job on a lot near one of North Jersey's rivers or brooks may need a flood check before it gets a building permit.

NJDEP's Inland Flood Protection Rule, in effect since July 17, 2023, raises the non-tidal flood elevations DEP maps by two feet and applies to new development and reconstruction, not to existing development.²² NJDEP adopted its REAL rule amendments on January 20, 2026, significantly amending the state's Flood Hazard Area Control Act rules; a 180-day window for reviewing some applications under the old rules ended July 20, 2026.²³

Oakland's flood damage prevention ordinance, replaced in June 2025, has the floodplain administrator look at permits for improvements and repairs over the 10 years before an application, measured against the building's market value, when deciding whether new work is a substantial improvement.²⁴ Ask your own town's floodplain administrator early how it counts earlier work on the house if your lot is mapped.

For very dusty work such as demolition, the EPA describes isolating the work area: sealing it off with no direct access to the occupied rooms, with workers using a separate entrance until cleanup is done.¹³ In a Bergen split-level or colonial, families often camp on one level while the crew works the other, and that plan holds up only if a working toilet and sink stay on the lived-in level.

If the whole house has to empty out, the job has crossed into reconstruction, and the town must issue a new certificate of occupancy before you move back. Build that inspection into the move-in date.

More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.²⁵ With walls already open on several floors, adding blocking for future grab bars, a wider doorway to the first-floor bath or a full shower on the entry level costs little extra. NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.²⁶

The number on this page connects you, on a recorded line, with one independent company that handles whole-home remodels in the North Jersey area. Which rooms, in what order and at what price are worked out between you and that company.

That company pays us for the call. You pay us nothing, and nobody from our side phones or texts you afterward. How we make money

New Jersey registers home improvement businesses rather than licensing them, so look up the registration before any deposit. New Jersey's Contractors' Business Registration Act requires every home improvement contractor business, from a sole proprietorship up, to register with the Division of Consumer Affairs every year before selling or making home improvements, unless the law exempts it.²⁷ The Division of Consumer Affairs' License Verification System is a real-time lookup; its Business Search finds home improvement contractor businesses by business name, license number or city and lists each one's registration number, license type, status and city.²⁸ Check a New Jersey license

A New Jersey home improvement contract for more than $500, and any change to its terms, must be in writing and signed by all parties, and must list the contractor business's legal name, business address and registration number, include a copy of its liability insurance certificate with the insurer's phone number, and state the total price including any finance charges.²⁹ A New Jersey homeowner may cancel a home improvement contract for any reason until midnight of the third business day after receiving a copy of it, by written notice sent by certified or registered mail or delivered in person, and the contractor must refund all payments within 30 days of receiving the notice.²⁹