Elegant Home Improvement

We could not be happier with our decision to choose John and his crew to complete our remodel. From the moment we met with John we had a good feeling about the project and his ability. As first time remodelers we (I) was a bit nervous, John guided us through the process and offered suggestions without pushing. He accompanied us on several purchasing excursions and it was helpful to have him there for guidance and suggestions. Everyone who was part of the project including subcontractors were a pleasure to work with. John's associate, Miguel prides himself on his quality of work and your satisfaction. The plumber, electrician and granite installer were fabulous. John's crew and the subs arrived on time and as promised. They cleaned up after themselves daily and did not leave a mess. We are so happy with the results and would recommend John and his crew to anyone in need of service.

The project started on time but was held up because the inspectors Held it up for a week because they were to busy and couldn't get us. The entire project took a remarkable 3 weeks.

Elegant Home Improvement really gave the outside of my home an elegant face-lift with the replacement of the old orignal crank style casement windows with two brand new bay windows. John and his team was amazing to work with with once again. They took great care ensuring that when the window was removed the opening was cover with tarp and that the new window was installed before the end of the day. They built the necessary support for a bay window and matched our roofing shingles so the roof on the windows would match the rest of the house. Working in our formal living room and family room the crew took care to ensure that our belongs were protected and that there was minimum disruption to the house. Having lived through other construction projects I know to expect dust but Elegant Home Improvement cleaned the house each day leaving it as dust free as possible and the front yard was also cleared of any debris which was disposed of properly. When the installation was complete he took time to match the paint in both the living room and family room and paint around the window so it looks like the windows have always been there. We got so much more from John than just the bay window, he really wanted to make sure the house looked updated so he recommend that we replace our wooden front door and wooden garage door. He replaced these doors at no extra labor charge. This is my fouth project with Elegant Home Improvement and Honesty, integrity, professionalism and quality is what I have come to expect from Elegant Home Improvement team and they do not disappoint.

We have a small galley type kitchen and we wanted to maximize our counter space and install a backsplash so once again we reached out John at Elegant Home Improvement. He took my wife shopping for the tiles and picked out a color that would work with the kitchen and match the existing cabinets. He brought in a granite vendor and made recommendations on colors that would work best. We loved his suggestions, for example he suggested extending the countertop past cabinets to form a small shelf near the window to give us more space. He also gave us the idea to shift our stove a couple of inches so we could install a set of cabnites to give us counter space next to the stove which is so important. John knew my wife wanted to host Easter Dinner with the family and he and his team worked to ensure that the backsplash, the countertop and the new set of cabinets were installed quickly and above all correctly in time to celebrate Easter. Neat and clean work, cutting tiles and grouting tiles is never easy but John made sure that he and his team were neat and cleaned up the kitchen each day, they took great care in this and swept up the floor twice be sure the dogs did not step on anything that could be harmful or lick up something that could be dangerous. I can not say it enough times John and Elegant Home Improvement are worth every penny, old europoean work ethic combined with a great personality makes it so easy to work with John. What sets Elegant Home Improvement apart from the rest is John's willingness to keep the homeowner happy after running the dishwasher which is old several times the mounting screws came loose and fell out, my wife called John and within no time John stopped over the house to install new mounting screws so the dishwasher didn't walk across the kitchen. He never says no to his customers.

Being a church facility we had received multiple bids on this project and decidied to go with Elegant Home Improvement after he had done window installations on the rectory in the fall of 2013. John and his team were fantastic. They were clean and respectful of our living spaces. The job site was cleaned at the end of each day and the project was done on time as promised. John assisted us in choosing a color and with the designs of the shadow boxes to give the rectory a new look. He even took the time to pick out new light fixtures for the hallways. Everything was done to perfection. I would highly recommend his work and I would not hesitate to use him again on additional projects. John has an old fashion work ethic and strives to make the customer happy. He is excellant at his craft.

The shower fixture was leaking and after need to open the wall and replace the shower body we called John at Elegant Home Improvement, who has remodeled the tenants bathroom ,in our two family house. Already know the qualilty of his work it was a no brainer to call him. He took care of everything he brought us shopping for the new fixture and help select the new tiles. His crew was professional respecting our home and ensuring that our pets were safe while they were coming in and out of the house. I can express how clean and neat their work is you would never know that we had a problem and the cleaning that was done each day after work was fantastic. They took necessary precautions to minimize the dust and debris through out the house and all garbarge was removed from the house each day. I can wait to have start our next project of remodeling our laundry room. He is fantastic and easy to work with.

From start to finish Elegant Home Improvement was the "in a perfect world" type experience one prays for when working with a contractor. We contacted them through the message service and received a prompt reply. John made himself very available to set up the consultation appointment. He was on time, personable to talk with and listened to every thought and concern we had. Here was big plus. John just did not come in, take measurements, have a polite chat and send an estimate by e-mail. He spent the time go over each aspect of the job and engaged us with his suggestions, ideas and experience. Here's an even bigger plus....he was HONEST and genuinely cared about our house being restored to the condition WE wanted. Our satisfaction was his mission. We weren't a BIG money job, but we were treated like we were. We agreed on the price for the job and their crew was in our home right away to start work. They crew was polite, professional & courteous. The drywall repair was excellent. You'd never know there were pieces missing. No lines, no tape marks....very clean. The painting work was fast & efficient. John put high grade paint on the walls. He told us he would and he did (we double checked him because our last painter lied to us about the grade of paint used and we wanted to see if we were getting a strait deal). Another example of honesty and fair play. The painters took their time with prepping and painting. There was extreme attention to detail. The also blended and matched existing textured paint in our bathroom. The molding work went well too. Not only was the work performed timely and to our satisfaction....THEY WERE SO CLEAN ABOUT IT. Every step of the way they stopped and periodically cleaned up behind themselves. We have a 3 year old and the crew was mindful to check and double check for anything left behind (nails, debris, etc.). All in all, it was like I said above, the "in a perfect world" type experience one prays for when working with a contractor. I will most certainly call Elegant Home Improvement for future work.

The gentleman arrived promptly at the quoted day/time and looked at the areas we were requesting an estimate for. He was courteous and friendly. The problem is, as another reviewer stated, he never followed through with the estimate. We followed up with an email that day per his request so it'd be easier for him to reply, then followed up New Years week, and then finally 2 weeks afterwards.

Couldn't ask for a better Contractor. The man, John K., is a Gem.

We are extremely happy with the service and the results. John, the owner, personally oversaw both jobs from start to finish. His main man Miguel is a marvelous craftsman who did a lot of the tile work, flooring, and painting. We went onto the company?s website to see examples of their work, and we liked John?s artistic sensibility, so we trusted his judgment when it came to design decisions. The things we like most about the service: · John and his team was immensely flexible, and they worked around life?s inconveniences, like when we were expecting family who were staying with us, and had to push the start date later; they were careful with our 2 cats, and kept the front door closed even when it made the demolition phase more difficult. · John and Miguel took so much pride with their work. Still remember when Miguel showed us the new tiles he just laid with a great big smile, as if he just delivered a beautiful baby ? and it WAS beautiful. · John took the time to educate us every step of the way on home improvement, such as options on fixtures, tiles, bathroom fans, and long-term maintenance of our new installations. · During the job, we ask John?s help for several additional fix-it tasks unrelated to the contracted work, and he just did it for us. We offered to pay but he refused to charge us extra. · John cares very much that we are happy. He probably asked us half a dozen time to call him if we see anything we are not happy, so that he can fix for us. We only had to exercise it once, at the end of the flooring installation. He stay till 9 pm to fix a few wood trims next to the hearth because he wanted them to look perfect. · BIG DEAL: Months after the work was completed, we had a house guest who broke the tub faucet in the master bath, on a Saturday, and the hot water side would continue to run. We tried to fix it ourselves and failed. We finally gave up and called John for help, and he showed up in an hour and fixed it for us. It was a difficult fix which he needed to access the pipes like he was painting the Sistine chapel ceiling. A few things we learned that may be helpful for newbies of home improvement: · Bathroom renovation involves several inspections, and it will naturally lengthen the duration of the project. The permits cost a few hundred dollars in our case. · There will be noise and dust. If you work from home, you may need to make some alternative arrangements for the noisy days. The crew will cover up you nice things. Do put away the breakables, and Swiffer dusters works well for dusty surfaces. · You will need to empty out part of the garage to store the building materials, and not have use of that part of the garage until the materials are used. · Ask lots of questions, take notes, and keep all the records and receipts. We were new to remodeling, and we did not know what we did not know. For example, they had to disconnect the garbage disposal when they removed the dishwasher to do the kitchen tiles, and we did not know to not use that side of the sink. We learned quickly after a minor clean-up. · Speak up right away if something does not look right. Misunderstanding often happened even with the best of communication, and it may be easier to correct before the sequence of tasks has progressed too far. For example, we saw the framed out bath stall and wanted it to be bigger. We talked to John right away, and he simply redid the framing. It would have been too late after the tiling was done.

The decision to use John of Elegant Home Improvement to remodel my entire home was one of the best decisions I have ever made. He is honest, fair, talented in design, and an extremely nice guy to work with. His work was exceptional and I would recommend him to anyone. Thank you to Angie's List for bringing us together.

"Elegant Home Improvements" isn't hype. John really wants your home to look elegant and for you to be happy with the finished product, We picked John from among several contractors we interviewed for several reasons. Having never had renovation work done, we were a little nervous about the project and its impact on our lives while the work was going on. John told us that he'd accompany us to pick out our cabinets, tile and granite and offer suggestions. We liked that idea. He spent a lot of time with us at our first meeting and offered some design ideas that he thought we'd like, as opposed to the more "cookie cutter" design proposals that we received from other contractors. He estimated the work would take 3 weeks, whereas the other contractors had estimated 4 weeks. Finally, John is very personable and likes to joke around, and I prefer working with someone like that to someone who's "all business". Because we have a small kitchen, the available space had to be maximized and there was little margin of error when it came to things fitting together. John was very helpful in that regard. He'll also tell you if he thinks you're making a mistake when it comes to materials and colors that you have in mind, and will make recommendations. We didn't agree with him on the aesthetics of the job 100% of the time, but his comments and recommendations were usually excellent. John did some of the work himself, and would stop in two or three times during the course of the day to see how his crew's work was going. We liked his crew. They worked hard, did a good job, were polite and neat, and cleaned up at the end of the day. For any difficult part of the job, John was present. He and his crew worked continuously (except for about a week when the ball was in the granite subcontractor's court), and the job was finished in 3 1/2 weeks, which was very satisfactory. John was also very good about taking care of a few "extras" that I hadn't thought of originally, free of charge. It's somewhat difficult to grade John on cost because of our inexperience with renovations and the fact that the scope of work in the various proposals we received were somewhat different. Also, I don't know what arrangements John had, if any, with the establishments from which we bought products and with the granite contractor, who we paid separately. The cost of the cabinets and bookcase was higher than we anticipated, but, in light of the facts that there was some custom work done and that they're quite "elegant", I'm not complaining. Ditto for the granite and granite work. So I'm giving John an "A" for cost to match his other "A's".

I could not be happier with the results of the work. This was a complex job because I was asking John to work around another contractor who was sanding, refinishing my hardwood floors, as well as, recovering my 2 staircases and landing in oak and replacing the railings on the original staircase. John worked well with the other contractor, he contacted him to coordinate the work which was needed. I had John do the worst job first which was fixing up a botched bathroom remodel from another contractor. John was able to preserve my toilet, vanity and medicine cabinet. The entire room was taken to the studs. John then helped us to pick out very nice granite counter top, tile, tub and fixtures for the bathroom. He had to fix a couple of permit issues(previous contractor had cut load bearing studs to install the medicine cabinet and the fan needed to be vented to the outside). He passed both the rough and final inspections without issue. The work was finished on time and the result was fantastic. Now that the bathroom was complete, John coordinated the flooring/stair rework. On my first floor, John removed all trim and gutted my first floor powder room. He refinished and repainted all of my rooms and then waited while the other contractor to finish refinishing my hardwood floors. Once the other contractor was finished. John came back in and finished up by retrimming my entire first floor. This work was also top notch and the house looks better than it did when it was purchased new. Lastly, I asked John to completely gut and rework the layout of my master bathroom. John redid the layout to relocate the toilet, add in a double sink, relocate the tub to give added space, increase the size of the shower to add in a bench, as well as, redo the lighting, heated floor and also relocate a closet. John spent a long day with us picking out tile, granite for counter tops, fixtures, fans, medicine cabinets, vanity, toilet and jacuzzi tub. The bathroom was gutted, roughed in and plumbing moved about 10 days before Hurricane Sandy. We had our rough inspection schedule for what turned out to be 2 days after Hurricane Sandy hit. During Hurricane Sandy we lost some roofing shingles, power and many trees. John and his crew came down a couple of days after Sandy and fixed my roofing shingles where they had been torn off. The loss of power and delays with the inspection delayed the work by a couple of weeks. But once the rough inspection was complete(again no issues were found), John and his crew completed the work and passed the final inspection without any issues. I would definitely recommend John. He not only does excellent work, he also helped us select colors and styles which we really liked.

John and his team were a pleasure to work with. always punctual and prompt to respond to changing needs of work we had on our newly bought home. John was very pleasant to work with and to get direct feedback from on progress and what to expect. Most important, we had a very aggressive timeline to complete the work, which John gave me his word to keep and he did. Thoroughly impressed, highly recommend.

John was a pleasure to work with from the first visit to the completion of the job. We knew what we wanted done, but John made several helpful suggestions and we were happy with his ideas. John and his crew were very professional and we trusted them with our home. He didn't just treat us like clients he was always so friendly and made us feel like we made the right decision in choosing him for the job. We were so happy with the job done that we are currently in the works to have our family room done.

Attempting to get an estimate for a complete renovation of a kitchen in a condominium I called Elegant Home Improvement at 908-220-5178. The call was answered "hello". Me: "Is this Elegant Home Improvement?" Answer "yes". I explain who I am and that I'm looking for an estimate for a kitchen renovation. I'm asked for the town I'm located in and I reply. There is some hesitation and then "I can stop by late on Tuesday between 4 and 5PM". Me: "That's fine". A pause. Me: "would you like my address?" Elegant: "would you send me your name and address in an EMail?" Me: "OK , what EMail address? Answer: "elegantLLC68@ gmail.com". Me: "OK I'll see you Tuesday". I EMail all my information. I get no error message and assume the message is received. Tuesday 5PM waiting. 6PM still waiting. 6:05 I call 908-220-5178. The call is answered "hello". Me: "Is this John?" Answer: "yes". I identify myself and ask if he is coming today. John: "Did we have a conversation?" Me: "Yes we did and we have an appointment for an estimate for a kitchen between 4 and 5PM." John: "You didn't give me your address." Me: "I EMailed it as you asked." John: "I didn't get it." Me: "Thank you John, goodbye." There were just so many warning signs that this would not be a good experience I felt it best to leave it at that. I know that a lot of contractors, especially the good ones, are overwhelmed with work thanks to Hurricane Sandy but rather than create a bad impression I think that they should simply give a time when they expect to be able to respond professionally to a request for an estimate (at least voicemail). Another detail, the EMail address i was given on the phone is not the same as that given on their website. I tried that one and received the following automated reply: Thank you for emailing Elegant Home Improvement! Your project is very important to us and we will be sure to contact you as soon as possible. In the meantime, please feel free to call (908) 220 - 5178 now for a FREE Estimate and browse our website for photos and testimonials of our work. Have a great day!

On his first visit, John arrived on time and ready to inspect the bathroom in question. The next step was to meet at the vanity and tile vendors. He helped with very good suggestions. Once the project got started, he finished it in consecutive days. Not running from project to project. He has been punctual and his crew cleaned up very well every day. Incidentally, his crew is very nice and were very careful around the house. We are very pleased with the outcome of this project. So much so, that I got him working on another project!

John did a great job installing my new windows.

They never got back to me. The guy said he was going to send me the estimate and never did. He was on time except not sending me the estimate. I wouldn't call him back.

A previous contractor (not from Angie's, learned my lesson) removed a load bearing wall from my first floor (in a 2 floor colonial). He told us it was not load bearing, it would not be a problem. A couple of months later, we noticed sagging in the ceiling and a constant creaking when we walked upstairs. After checking Angie, we met several contractors, and decided to use John. He was courteous, intelligent, punctual, and had good taste. He gave us all our options, took care of getting the engineer, the permits, the inspectors, and pretty much other than having to answer a few questions and write a check, we just sat back and his team took care of everything. They reinforced my main support beam in the basement, relocated an HVAC vent, and built a very nice frame around the opening. they were quick, efficient, and well mannered, what else can I ask for? I now have a safe, stable house. I lost minimal space in the process, something that was very important to me and John made sure to pay attention to it. And because my experience was not good enough already, his estimate was over. I ended up paying a bit less that what we originally thought. I never heard of anyone having that particular experience before, and I could not be gladder if I tried. John and his team will have quite a bit of work to do in my house in the coming years.

John was very easier to work with and helped me meet my schedule.

I called Elegant Home Improvement, John Kowczak, previously, to renovate my kitchen and bath. They gutted both and the outcome is a job beautifully done. I called John again to paint my living/dining/sunroom plus install hardwood floors in all three rooms. He not only painted the rooms but prior to painting them he placed sheetrock on the walls and ceilings thus giving the rooms a great finish. I would definitely call Elegant Home Improvement, John K. for any work needed in my home. Tina Orellana

We liked John right away when he came to our house for the estimate. He was friendly, professional and very knowledgeable. When it came time to decide on which estimate was right for us we immediately agreed upon John and Elegant Home Improvement. John was so great about answering any questions we had and made us feel comfortable about calling him at anytime. He would always answer the phone and he came to the house multiple times to go over things we were unsure about. When we signed the contract with John he offered to go fixture and tile shopping with us. He was affiliated with a local tile store and a local fixture showroom where we met and together would pick out our tile, floor, and fixtures for our new bathrooms. John has great taste. We trusted his opinions when we were shopping, which for us, was a great plus because it was our first time redoing our bathrooms. When the project started we were concerned about leaving strangers in our home. After a few days we gave John the key and felt totally comfortable that we were not putting ourselves at risk for any issues. He and his staff were very very particular about being clean. They made sure that each day they laid down drop clothes everywhere and covered all areas along the way. They cleaned up each day as if they had never been there. For the most part everything went very pretty smoothly, if we ran into any issues (which unfortunately is inevitable) John would buy the necessary equipment and he and his crew would stay at our house until they were fixed. Our two bathrooms were completed in about a 1 1/2 weeks. John's ultimate goal was to make sure we were happy with everything in the end. I'm happy to say that we are very happy with the results of our renovations.

The remodeling of my kitchen was a huge job. The kitchen was gutted, the electric had to be brought up to code, and the stove was moved to the opposite side of the room. The end product is absolutely beautiful and the service was truly exceptional. The craftsmanship was superb, and John (the owner) and his crew were very responsive. If I asked that something be improved or modified, it was done right away. Each day, they cleaned up after themselves. The job was completed in about 4 weeks, and that includes the week that Hurricane Sandy knocked out our power. I can't recommend this provider highly enough.

In summary, he was fast, timely, and meticulous. I?m very anal about the work done in my house, and he completely exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend John and Elegant Home Improvements for any contracting work that needs to be done in your home.