Hear from Our Customers
Bloomfield is in the middle of something. Buyers are coming in from all directions drawn by the Essex County address, the NJ Transit access, and the fact that you can get a home here for half of what Montclair costs. That means the homes that stand out are the ones that have been invested in. A well-built outdoor kitchen is one of the highest-ROI upgrades you can make, returning anywhere from 55% to 200% of the build cost in added home value and 83% of realtors say it meaningfully appeals to buyers.
But the value only holds if the build holds. Bloomfield winters are not forgiving. Freeze-thaw cycles crack countertops that weren’t sealed right, heave structures that were set without proper footings, and destroy mortar joints that weren’t mixed for exterior NJ conditions. A prefab kit or a wood-framed build looks fine in June. By March of year two, you’ll know the difference. Masonry construction the kind we do is built around how this climate actually behaves, not how it looks in a catalog photo.
For the Brookdale homeowner with a Colonial that borders Montclair, or the family in Watsessing Park who’s been watching the neighborhood climb, a custom outdoor kitchen isn’t just a nice addition. It’s the backyard finally matching the home and the investment finally making sense on paper.
We’re a family-owned general contracting company based in northern New Jersey, founded in 2018 and serving Essex County homeowners including Bloomfield with masonry, roofing, and chimney work. We’re BBB Accredited, hold a GAF Preferred Contractor designation, and are licensed under the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs, license #13VH09838700. Every one of those credentials is publicly verifiable before you ever make a call.
Tony leads every project personally. In Bloomfield, where word travels fast through neighborhood networks near Brookdale Park and the Watsessing community, that kind of reputation is built one project at a time. You’ll see it in the reviews, where clients consistently mention his communication, his punctuality, and the fact that he follows through.
We offer free consultations, a full warranty on all work, and a no-hidden-charges policy. If you’ve dealt with a contractor who disappeared after the deposit, you already know why those things matter.
It starts with a free consultation. Tony walks the space with you, asks the right questions, and gives you honest guidance on what’s realistic for your yard and your budget. Bloomfield backyards vary a lot a Brookdale lot near the Glen Ridge border can be generous; a property closer to Watsessing or the Broad Street corridor might be working with a tighter footprint. We design around your actual space, not a template.
Once the design is agreed on, we handle the permit process with Bloomfield Township’s Department of Inspections. Any outdoor kitchen that includes gas, electrical, or plumbing connections requires building, electrical, and plumbing permits under the NJ Uniform Construction Code and skipping that step creates real problems when you go to sell. We submit the applications, manage the review, and schedule inspections so you don’t have to navigate the Township’s permit office on your own.
Construction begins once permits are approved. The masonry base goes in first block and mortar, set on a proper concrete footing sized for NJ freeze-thaw conditions. Then comes the countertop installation, appliance integration, and any additional features like an outdoor bar, fire pit, or seating wall. When the crew leaves, the project is complete, inspected, and built to last.
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Our outdoor kitchens are masonry from the ground up. The base is block construction not wood framing, not a prefab steel frame finished with stone veneer, brick veneer, or stucco that’s matched to your home’s exterior. For Bloomfield’s Colonial and Cape Cod housing stock, that matters. An outdoor kitchen that looks like it belongs on the back of your house is worth considerably more than one that looks like it was dropped into the yard from a big-box store.
The build includes whatever your outdoor cooking space calls for: a built-in grill, countertops in bluestone, granite, or poured concrete, a refrigerator cutout, an outdoor bar, storage, and lighting or electrical integration as needed. Every material we select for exterior use in NJ is freeze-thaw rated, properly sealed, and appropriate for year-round exposure. Essex County winters will test every joint and every surface, and we build with that in mind from day one.
We handle the permit process completely. Bloomfield Township requires separate subcodes for building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work depending on the project scope we know what each application needs and submit everything correctly the first time. The result is an outdoor kitchen that’s legal, inspected, and protected not a liability waiting to surface at closing.
Yes, in almost every case. Bloomfield Township’s Department of Inspections administers the NJ Uniform Construction Code, and any outdoor kitchen that includes a gas line, electrical service, or plumbing connection requires permits before work begins. Depending on the scope of the project, that could mean separate building, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permit applications each reviewed independently.
This is not something to work around. In Bloomfield’s active real estate market, unpermitted work shows up in title searches and can derail a sale, force retroactive zoning approval, or require the structure to be removed entirely. We handle the entire permit process on your behalf from the initial application to the final inspection sign-off so the finished outdoor kitchen is fully documented and protected at resale. You don’t need to figure out the Township’s permit office. That’s part of what you’re hiring us for.
The short answer is masonry block construction with stone or brick veneer, set on a concrete footing, with freeze-thaw rated countertop materials and properly mixed exterior mortar. New Jersey’s freeze-thaw cycles are one of the most destructive forces outdoor structures face in this region. Water gets into porous materials, freezes, expands, and cracks them from the inside. It happens to prefab kits, to improperly sealed countertops, and to mortar joints that were mixed for interior use or applied in the wrong temperature range.
For Bloomfield homeowners specifically, this isn’t abstract you’ve likely seen it happen to patios, steps, or outdoor structures on older homes in the neighborhood. The difference between a build that looks the same in year five as it did on day one and one that starts deteriorating by the second spring comes down to material selection, footing depth, drainage design, and mortar specification. We build for NJ conditions, not for the brochure photo.
For a masonry-built custom outdoor kitchen in Bloomfield, a realistic range is $20,000 to $50,000 or more, depending on the size, materials, and features involved. A straightforward build with a masonry base, built-in grill, and bluestone countertop sits toward the lower end of that range. Add a refrigerator, outdoor bar, fire pit, custom lighting, and a larger footprint and the number climbs accordingly.
What’s worth understanding is the return side of that equation. Outdoor kitchens consistently rank among the highest-ROI home improvements, returning 55% to 200% of the build cost in added home value and in Bloomfield, where buyers are actively comparing homes to what they’d pay in Montclair at twice the price, a well-built outdoor kitchen can be a genuine differentiator at listing. Our free consultation is the right place to get a real number for your specific yard and vision not a ballpark pulled from a pricing page.
An L-shaped or straight-run configuration usually works best in tighter Bloomfield backyards, particularly in the Watsessing, Glenwood, and Broughton Avenue sections where lot sizes are more modest. These layouts maximize usable cooking and counter space without requiring a large footprint, and they can be positioned to work with existing patio slabs, rear door placement, and property line setbacks all of which matter in a denser township like Bloomfield.
The design conversation always starts with your actual yard dimensions and how you plan to use the space. If you’re hosting regularly and want seating built in, a U-shaped layout or an L with an attached bar section might work even on a mid-sized lot depending on the configuration. We design around your specific backyard, not a standard template which is especially important in a township where no two lots look exactly alike. The free consultation is where that conversation starts.
From the initial consultation to project completion, a custom masonry outdoor kitchen typically takes six to twelve weeks, depending on project complexity and the permit timeline with Bloomfield Township. The permit review process adds time that some contractors skip but skipping it creates problems that cost far more later. We factor permit timing into the project schedule from the start, so there are no surprises mid-build.
For Bloomfield homeowners planning a summer entertaining season, the planning window matters. Contractors book up for warm-weather projects during late winter and early spring February through April is when most summer projects get scheduled. Homeowners who wait until May or June to start the conversation often find themselves pushed to the back half of summer or into fall. If you want your outdoor kitchen ready for peak season, earlier is always better. A free consultation now locks in your timeline before the schedule fills.
New Jersey requires all home improvement contractors to be registered with the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs and that registration is publicly searchable. Our license number is #13VH09838700, which you can verify directly through the state’s online database before signing anything. In Essex County, and in Bloomfield specifically, the number of contractors operating without proper registration is not small. An unlicensed contractor cannot legally pull permits, which means any work they do is unpermitted by default and that becomes your problem at resale.
Beyond the state license, we’re BBB Accredited since January 28, 2025, and hold a GAF Preferred Contractor designation both independently verified credentials that reflect a standard most local operators haven’t met. When you’re spending $20,000 to $50,000 or more on a permanent masonry structure in your backyard, the contractor’s credentials aren’t a formality. They’re how you know the work will be done right, documented correctly, and backed by someone who will still be accountable when the project is finished.
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