Power Washing in Hightstown, NJ
Serving Hightstown Borough | Family-Owned Business | Rated 5.0 on Google | Free Estimates
If your house is in the Stockton Street Historic District or is a designated landmark, the borough ordinance is unusually clear about exterior work, and it draws its line in a place that matters to us. You can paint what you like. Replacing a street-facing shutter, door, or window trim is a different matter. Outside the district none of it applies, and most of the borough is outside it.
If the work involves replacing anything visible from the street, say so first.
Painting and trim repair are most of what we do on the older houses here, along with soft washing the siding and the roof, clearing gutters, and washing walks, windows, fences, decks and pavers.
Angelo trains his crew to do every job the way he would, and he checks in on jobs as they run. Call or text (732) 718-6268, and you will hear back within the hour.
Painting. Exempt by name in the ordinance.
Covered property? Street-facing replacement needs an Opinion.
Victorian trim. Repaired before it is painted.
Older siding. Soft washed, never pressure washed.
What the Ordinance Says
Paint Is Exempt. Replacement in the District Is Not.
First, the part people get wrong: this reaches properties in the Stockton Street Historic District and designated landmarks, not every house in the borough. If yours is neither, the rest of this section is not your problem, and most of Hightstown is neither.
For the properties it does cover, the borough is unusually clear where most towns leave a homeowner guessing. The ordinance states it directly: an HPC Opinion “shall not be required for exterior or interior painting or color changes of existing structures.”
It is just as direct about the other side. An Opinion is required for “the replacement of the following exterior features visible from the street: windows and/or window trim, shutters, doors and/or door trim, fascia, soffits, exterior wall materials, fretwork (gingerbread), dentils, bracket, metal reliefs, lights, porches or portions thereof,” along with demolition, relocation, and additions or new construction. Ordinary maintenance and repair is exempt, defined as returning a structure to its condition before the damage “with quality in-kind materials and workmanship.”
That list is worth reading twice, because it is longer than people expect and it names most of what makes an old house look like an old house: the brackets under the eaves, the fretwork in a gable, the soffits, the porch. Repairing any of them is exempt. Replacing them, on a covered property and where the street can see it, is not.
Why that line runs straight through our work
We do both of the things it separates. Painting needs nothing from the borough anywhere in Hightstown. Replacing the shutters on the front of a covered property does, and so does new trim around a street-facing window. Those are two different projects with two different timelines, and on a district property knowing which one you are asking for changes when the work can start.
What about washing it?
The ordinance does not mention cleaning or washing at all. We are not going to tell you that means it is approved, and we are not going to tell you it is a problem. It means the ordinance is silent, and the borough is the place to ask if you want that confirmed for your own property.
Hightstown's Houses
Victorian Trim, and Why It Goes First
The Stockton Street district runs to Federal, Victorian and Eclectic architecture, and the Victorian end of that is a style with a lot of trim on it: brackets, sills, casings, porch detail, and the run of small pieces around a window that a plain house simply does not have. It is not a coincidence that the ordinance names brackets, fretwork, dentils and porches.
More edges, more places for water to sit
Every one of those pieces has a top edge that holds water and a joint that opens as the wood moves. That is why the trim on a house like this fails years before the flat siding does, and why a repaint that ignores the trim is a repaint that fails early. On these houses the trim is inspected first and the siding second, which is the opposite of the order most people expect.
The ordinance meets the wood
A trim section that can be repaired and repainted stays your decision entirely. A street-facing piece that has gone too far to save becomes a replacement, and that is where the borough wants a look. It is another reason the condition of the trim gets settled early rather than late.
Around the Borough
Which Properties the Rule Actually Reaches
Hightstown holds 5,900 people in 1.23 square miles, entirely surrounded by East Windsor Township, and the preservation ordinance reaches a minority of it: resources inside a designated historic district, and individually designated landmarks. A landmark designation is property by property, so it is not safe to assume you are outside the rule because you are outside the Stockton Street district.
The practical difference is paperwork, not workmanship. An old house is treated the same way whichever side of the line it falls on, and what changes is whether a replacement needs an Opinion before it can be ordered. One call to the borough settles it, and it is a call worth making before anything is ordered rather than after.
Services in Hightstown
What We Offer in Hightstown
Exterior painting
Exempt by name in the ordinance.
In HightstownShutter and trim replacement
On a covered property, street-facing work needs an Opinion.
In HightstownHouse washing (soft washing)
Victorian siding and painted wood.
In HightstownRoof cleaning
From the ground; nobody on the shingles.
In HightstownGutter cleaning
Cleared by hand, downspouts flushed.
In HightstownDriveway and patio power washing
Walks, steps, and older brick judged by its joints.
In HightstownWindow cleaning
Outside glass on older sashes.
In HightstownFence cleaning
Vinyl and wood, soft washed.
In HightstownPaver restoration and sealing
Patios and walks.
In HightstownDeck restoration and staining
Rear decks and porches.
In HightstownInterior painting
The indoor half of the year.
In HightstownCommercial power washing
Frontages on the routes around the borough.
In HightstownChristmas light installation
Porch detail and rooflines.
In Hightstown
Why Catanzaro's
What You Can Count On
We separate the two jobs at the estimate
A repaint and a replacement have different timelines here, and mixing them into one quote is how a job stalls halfway. You will be told which parts of yours are which before you agree to anything.
The owner stands behind every job
Angelo oversees the work and checks in on jobs as they run, and the crew does the final walk-through with you. If something is not right later, he will personally come out and make the necessary changes.
Insured, with 2,500+ projects
Fully insured, with more than 2,500 projects since 2020 and a 5.0 rating on Google.
Worth knowing before you book
Hightstown FAQ
Hightstown Questions
Am I even in the historic district?
Most properties are not, and the ordinance reaches two categories rather than one: resources inside a designated historic district, and individually designated landmarks, which can sit anywhere in the borough. So the answer is not simply a matter of which street you are on. The borough can tell you which category your property falls into, and it is worth knowing before you plan any replacement work.
Can I change the color of my house?
Yes. The ordinance exempts exterior painting and color changes by name, so a new color on an existing structure is your decision even on a covered property. Confirm it with the borough for your own house, but that is what the published text says.
What if a shutter has rotted and needs replacing?
Outside the historic district, nothing changes: we replace it. On a district property or a designated landmark, a street-facing replacement is what the ordinance asks for an HPC Opinion on. It is not a refusal; it is a step, and it is why we identify replacements at the estimate rather than on the morning the work starts.
Does repairing the trim count as replacing it?
Ordinary maintenance and repair is exempt, defined as returning the structure to its prior condition with quality in-kind materials and workmanship. A repair that keeps the piece is a different thing from taking the piece off and fitting a new one, and on Victorian trim more can usually be repaired than people expect.
Reviews
In Our Customers' Words
From a Google review (attia gawargyous, 2024): Work that needs no description.
“Angelo does amazing work that speaks for itself.”
attia gawargyous, Google review
Read this review on Google →From a Google review (Amanda, 2025): Booked and finished without fuss.
“He was able to come out the same day for a quote and completed the job within the same week.”
Amanda, Google review
Read this review on Google →From a Google review (Amy D'Orazio, 2024): How one booking went.
“They came same day to give me an estimate and were back the next day to do the job!”
Amy D'Orazio, Google review
Read this review on Google →The Process
A Hightstown Job, Start to Finish
Get in touch
Call or text (732) 718-6268, or fill in the form.
Quote
Priced from photos or a visit, and sent to your phone. Painting is quoted at the house.
Day before
We confirm. Please leave a spigot on, close the windows, and move the cars from the garage.
Setup
We go over the job with you and protect plants and outdoor electrical.
The work
Everything on the quote.
Walk-through
We walk the finished job with you.
Our Base
Based in Freehold, Serving Hightstown
Get a Free Estimate
Get Your Free Hightstown Estimate
Send photos of the front elevation and say whether anything needs replacing instead of repainting. Painting itself is quoted at the house.
Serving the Borough of Hightstown, NJ 08520.