About NJ Cost Guide
NJ Cost Guide publishes what home projects actually cost in New Jersey — roofing, tree removal, fences, driveways and decks — using compiled local pricing, current supplier costs, and each town's own permit rules. Jersey numbers only, with sources and dates.
Why this site exists
Homeowners deserve a real number before they hire, not a national average dressed up as a local one. Most "cost" pages online blend the whole country together, then hand you off to a salesperson. In New Jersey the truth is different: labor, disposal fees, frost depth, shore-versus-inland conditions and town-by-town permit rules all move the price — sometimes by thousands of dollars.
We built this to answer the literal question — here's what it costs in NJ, and here's why it varies — and then get out of the way. Every figure is compiled from published New Jersey sources and carries a source and a checked date. If we can't source it to Jersey, we don't publish it as a Jersey number. See how we get these numbers.
Who runs it
The site is run by John G., a real estate professional in Ocean County, New Jersey. That's the honest edge here, and it's worth being precise about what it is and isn't.
Over years in NJ real estate, John has seen hundreds of home projects up close — from the buyer's, seller's and agent's side of the table. That means a working knowledge of what these jobs cost across Jersey markets, how permits and town rules affect a sale, and where a quote is out of line for the area. It's local, market-level knowledge of home projects and NJ towns.
What it is not: John is not a contractor, tradesperson, or installer, and this site never claims trade or field experience. We don't tell you we've been on your roof or built your deck. Our authority comes from the data — sourced, dated NJ pricing and the town rules behind it — not from a persona. When a number here sounds confident, it's because we can show you where it came from.
How we get the numbers
Short version: we compile published NJ contractor pricing, current supplier and retail costs, official permit rules and municipal ordinances, and NJ-localized estimator cross-checks — and every figure carries its source and the date we last checked it. The full method, including how we present ranges and what our data can't yet do, is on our methodology page. It's the most important page on this site.
How it's funded
This site is free to read and funded through pay-per-lead referrals: if you choose to request quotes, a lead network may pay us a referral fee. It never changes your price and never affects our numbers — read the full, plain-English disclosure on how we make money.
The one rule we hold to
We earn trust through data and transparency — sourced numbers, named methods, honest limits — not through claims we can't back up. If a sentence on this site would only be true if we swung a hammer for a living, it doesn't ship.