Our Process

Our Commitment to Quality Never Waivers

At Zirbel Construction, our goal is a fair day’s pay for a good day’s work. Our rates remain constant, whether we’re building a small entry-level home or a large luxury home, and our commitment to quality never changes. The truth is, we just love to see our customer’s dreams realized when their new homes are finished, regardless of the cost. We have found ourselves in the intermediate market much of our career, building homes valued between $400,000 and $800,000, but over the past 20 years, we’ve also been fortunate to have built homes ranging from $50,000 to $2,600,000 in value. Every single one of these builds received the dedication to quality and attention to detail that we’re famous for.

Why a General Contractor?

My job as the General Contractor (“GC”), is to guide you and manage the thousands of details involved with home construction. Without a GC, you would be fielding literally dozens of calls a day from the contractors involved in completing your home, from plumbers to electricians and from drywallers to backhoe operators. Your GC will handle all of these calls, address any issue, coordinate all of the work, and ensure that it’s done in a timely fashion. With nearly 40 years in the industry, I’ve built relationships with trusted subcontractors based on mutual respect and open communication.
I honestly believe that the cost of hiring me as your General Contractor will be made up to you in costs and delays that I save you by doing my job well. The fact that I take a lot of the stress off your life is just a bonus.

Begin with a Dream

Building a home is a confusing, heartbreaking, exhausting, wonderful, exciting and rewarding process. You’ll begin with a dream and develop your first blue prints, which will give you a basis from which to get a cost estimate. When you see that estimate, don’t be surprised if you need help getting to your feet after you hit the floor. Keep in mind, though, that your plans must begin somewhere. Maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the estimate and ask, “Wonderful, what’s next?”

Decisions and Designs

It’s time to take your plans to our general contractor at Zirbel Construction, who will pull your home-building team together. The more details you have gathered beforehand, the better you’ll feel, but we are here to walk beside you through the process, regardless. There are a ton of decisions to be made when homebuilding, and professional designer help can save you from self-destructing. The final choices are yours to make, and it’s up to you how decide how much help you need or want along the way. Many quality suppliers offer free design advice with their products, which about half of our clients take advantage of.

Signing a Contract

Before any building can begin on your dream home, a contract must be signed with the General Contractor. At Zirbel Construction, we truly believe that our commitment to clear communication is key to our success. When you know what to expect and when to expect it, much of the hassle of homebuilding is taken care of.

The first page of your contract with Zirbel Construction covers the project overview and its total cost. In addition, as part of my contract, I use a sworn construction statement. A sworn construction statement is a document banks require in order to grant a loan. It contains as many as 80 line-items to monitor the job cost, and is updated monthly to track cash flow. A lien release will be provided for each vendor or subcontractor on the same monthly basis.

All changes and additions to the contract will be made in writing and will be updated to the sworn construction statement. After the change order is signed, the change can begin. Note that changes can slow down construction and alter completion dates, so thorough planning is critical.

Our experience working with Zirbel Construction was positive from the beginning of our project to its completion. Fritz listened to our plans for our cabin and without changing our vision he added so many great improvements. He and his crew were very easy to work with and we are very happy with our cabin and would not change a thing.

When we met Fritz Zirbel, we didn’t know he was a contractor; and when we found out he was, we kept him in mind for building our future dream lake home. He seemed very knowledgeable in the local lakes area industry and later proved that his many years of experience in the area is his greatest asset. He was always able to find local talents to help build our home. Fritz took genuine interest in our project and gave us lots of ideas along the way. He incorporated plenty of local craftsmanship, materials, and even some pleasant surprises using his own talents. He made our new home feel special and unique.

Fritz is also a good businessman. He was good at sticking to a schedule, informing us of upcoming timelines that required our input, and keeping us informed about the progress or any delays in the project. In addition, he met with our neighbors to inform them of any upcoming concerns or inconveniences that arise with construction. Whether you are building a large home or have a smaller project in mind, we would recommend Fritz Zirbel Construction.