best builders

Joyce and Jeffrey Westphal had been renters for 15 years when they decided in 1999 the time had come to buy their own home. The West Bend couple began looking around for something modest – he’s a mechanic, she’s in marketing – that would suit the couple and their daughter, then just on the cusp of her teenage years. The search discouraged them. “Everything in our price range needed $50,000 worth of work,” recalls Joyce, 36. That’s when they decided on new construction. “We found it was actually cheaper to build.” The Westphals began visiting model homes and soon found…

Vicki Staeger knew she’d chosen the right builder when a young electrician cut a gaping hole in the custom-made, seamless kitchen countertop in the split ranch she and her husband, Alan, were building in Muskego. The house was close to completion, but local building codes demanded an additional outlet under the breakfast bar. When the electrician made an opening in the side of the cabinetry to run wire, his saw went astray, cutting through the sweeping two-level countertop. The workman apologized profusely. The builder, Wolter Bros. of New Berlin, rushed to remedy the mistake, replacing the damaged countertop in just…