Get in touch

We work across Monmouth County from a base in West Long Branch — Freehold, Middletown, Manalapan, Red Bank, Neptune, Wall, Howell, Marlboro and the towns between them. If you are near the county line and unsure, call and ask; it is a quick answer.

Because the drainage problem crosses four jurisdictions. Flooding here has been formally identified as a shared issue between the borough, Long Branch, Monmouth County and Monmouth University, and a Whale Pond Brook Drainage Remediation Project needs all four to coordinate. The Borough DPW clears the brook at least once a year, but the wider watershed drainage still needs work. Countywide, 19% of properties are at risk of severe flooding over the next 30 years.

Yes. A sticking door and a full deck restoration are both normal weeks. Tell us what the job is and we will say plainly whether it is something we take on or something that needs a specialist trade.

It depends on the job and the municipality — each town in Monmouth County runs its own construction office under the State Uniform Construction Code. Structural work, and anything that adds or moves electrical, plumbing or gas, generally needs a permit before the work starts. Like-for-like repairs generally do not. We will tell you which applies before we begin rather than after.

Describe the job on the phone and most get a free written quote on the call. Where the scope is bigger or something is hidden, we may need a quick look first — we tell you on the call what drives the price.

Call (848) 272-9900. Tell us the town, the job, and when suits you.

There is no "handyman licence" as such in New Jersey, but there is a registration, and it is not optional. Anyone in the business of making or selling home improvements on a residential property must register annually with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs — repairs, remodelling, installations and renovations all count. Owners working on their own home, or a family member's, are exempt. Separately, electrical and plumbing work is reserved for contractors licensed by their own state boards, which is why an honest general trade will hand some jobs on rather than take them.

Scale and paperwork, mostly. Both are covered by the same New Jersey registration when the work is a home improvement on a residential property. The practical difference is that a general contractor takes on structural and multi-trade projects and coordinates other trades, while a handyman handles the repair-and-maintenance end directly. Neither title permits unlicensed electrical or plumbing work.

Published national figures put it somewhere between $50 and $150 an hour, averaging around $90, according to Angi's 2026 cost guide; HomeAdvisor quotes a similar band. Those are national numbers, not ours, and we do not publish a rate on this page — most jobs get a settled price for the work when you call and describe them. Estimates are free.

At $500. New Jersey requires any home improvement contract at or above that figure to be in writing and to carry the contractor's legal name and business address, the start and completion dates, a description of the work and the total price. Below it, a written quote is still the sensible thing to ask for.

Ask locally first — town Facebook groups and neighbours produce better names than directories do, because the people answering have watched the work being done. Then check the two things a recommendation cannot tell you: that the registration is current with the Division of Consumer Affairs, and that the person will say plainly which parts of your job are theirs and which need a licensed specialist.