Integrity
"I’m not sure that many people, building a house, get to be friends with their builder, but you are an exception to the rule. Your business card reads, “fun” as one of the adjectives of your business. We noticed that right away but had no idea as to how true it was. But after the fun was done, your professionalism always showed through. You took our questions seriously and answered in a thoughtful, considerate and thorough manner. We were never left wondering what would happen next. When we got to the issues that needed decisions you always presented the situation, explained the alternatives and advised the pros and cons of each. We always appreciated how you walked us through the process. Attention to detail was first rate and the place was always perfectly clean. AT first, I thought that the place was just very clean because we were coming up, but soon realized that it is always that way, every day. Even things like back filling, underground downspout drains, topsoil, straw and seeding were never specifically discussed but just done. It just added to the value of the project. Down here, those would have been add ons or just left undone. A man is nothing more nor nothing less than his integrity. You are a man of integrity."—Bill & Gwen Black

A Unique Cabin
"We were first introduced to John (Zeak) DeWyse and DeWyse Construction, Inc, in January 2001 through a reference from Bigger Logs. We shared our visions with Zeak of redesigning and remodeling our existing cottage into a cabin of tradition and modern convenience. We were concerned about salvaging some of the interior woodwork for preservation purposes and discussed in detail what this would entail. Zeak gave us the perception of understanding our wishes and turned perception into reality by delivering a product of utmost beauty, modern convenience, character and tradition.

Together in a partnership, Zeak pulled together the resources, skills, ideas and concepts to build a unique cabin with unique blue prints and design. He transformed our visions into reality and began this personal project in May 2001. This partnership grew into a family atmosphere and one of trust and understanding. Zeak promised deliverables and kept these promises; he used creative ways to keep us informed since we live 338 miles away, ie, digital photos sent via the internet. We were able to see step by step progress beginning with the original cottage's demolition, to floor redesign, to trusses, walls, logs, etc. When redesign issues needed to be addressed, Zeak recommended creative alternatives for us to review and select based on his understanding of our visions.

This project was very personal to us as well as to Zeak and incorporated a very aggressive schedule. When you are able to work with someone who is knowledgeable, creative, and a project leader, the end result is always very satisfying. To us, however, it was more than we ever expected!"—Ed and Eileen Idziak

Top 10 Things We Like About Working With Zeak and DeWyse Construction

• He really delivers on that "Quality, Dependability, & Fun" slogan of his.
• Not condescending to trolls.
• Able to cut through flaky architect's vision to build a livable home.
• Speaks good code.
• Can be trusted with vast (for us) quantities of cash.
• Tells great stories.
• Exhibits extreme patience with first-time homebuilders.
• Contributes creative ideas to the project.
• Employs a fantastic crew.
• Sincerely wants to make our dream home a reality.

—By Kath Kozak

Letter of Appreciation

John (Zeak),

Kathy and I want to thank you for the beautiful house that you and your associates built for us! We are truly pleased with the way it turned out.

Zeak, as a businessman, I am always skeptical about doing business with people I don't know. I must say that you are truly a man of your word. Everything that you told me that would take place did take place.
You were quick to respond to our concerns and questions. Whenever situations occurred you were quick to inform us and to involve us.
The workmanship of the building of this house is first class. Having been in the building industry for over twenty year I expected first class materials and that is what you used without me having to ask for them. Your associates that helped in the building of our house were very knowledgeable, hard working and did a top-notch job!

We also want to comment on the job that you did with restoration of out "dilapidated" cabin out back. I would have never thought that it would turn out the way it did! You took a run down (almost falling down) structure and returned it to a very attractive and livable year round cabin - incredible!

Zeak, as you can tell my wife and I are extremely happy with the way things turned out. Job well done my friend! Please feel free to use us as a reference whenever you want to.

Sincerely,

Larry and Kathy Smith

Timely Basis- In the Highest of Quality

Dear Zeak,

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for doing such a great job on our summer home which you completed in May of 2002. We absolutely love it and look forward to the many years ahead of using it with our family.

Being able to build a home and have confidence in the builder, his staff and his communication skills was extremely important to us especially when building this home from 2500 miles away.
Your professionalism and willingness to work with us on our schedule and through the changing of plans during the course of the project was refreshing and appreciated.

The pride that you and your employees took in building our home, definitely reflects your work ethic and the determination that you have to put forth a quality, "second- to- none" project.

At times we were concerned that the costs were getting a little high based on what we had planned in our budget, you did take the time to explain at length and in accounting detail everything that went into the cost in question. This was extremely important to us and again very much appreciated because we live so far away. The documentation that you provided to us via e-mail pictures and accounting ledger entries, again demonstrated your desire for this project to be a success for all of us.

We look forward to a long relationship with you and your company in the coming years. We know that when we need you to work on something, you'll be open to sitting down with us and discussing our plans and completing the project on a timely basis in the highest of quality.

See, you in the summer.

Best Regards,

Doug and Kathy Waugaman

From the Basement to the Roof

Hi Zeak,

I just have to tell you, we get goose bumps every time we walk into our house! And it's all your fault! We want to thank Debbie because of the time you were away from home and also the distance you and your guys had to travel.

Zeak, you are top of the line when it comes to being a contractor and builder. You handled it all for us from the basement to the roof and that's what we needed!
I will recommend your family and your company to anyone who calls. You can use us for a reference whenever you need.

Oh yeah, being the small business owner and worker that I am I just love to see the boss get involved and sweat! You are our builder and I can't wait to have you do our garage. You are one of the most professional people we have been lucky enough to meet in DA UP, EH!

Deb & Zeak, I thank you both.

Your friend always,

Peg & Lar Van Zale
Drummond Island, MI, USA

Building Experience Has Been a Pleasure

Dear Zeak,

This is just a quick note to thank you and your excellent crew, Smoky & J.C., for the great work each of you did on our home by:

1. Remodeling our roadside entryway from just a photograph with an overlay. It turned out to exceed our expectations.

2. Your design and construction of our second story deck, again another job well done.

3. Your solution for our new lakeside steps with its snow problem, in which you implemented the building of detachable guard rails for the winter and also used good heavy duty framing, will surely solve the problem.

4. And lastly, your cheerful acceptance to do the extra little jobs that our place had accumulated over the years and to do them so well.

To all this, we want to also add that we appreciate the dependability of each of you, such as arriving when scheduled: your efficiency; your excellent building skills and work ethics; your good cleanup at the end of the day; and most of all we enjoyed working with all of you.

Please use us as a reference for any work that you may be doing or want to do. Our building experience with you has been a pleasure, and we look forward to working with you again.

Thanks for everything!

Sincerely,

Jack Glascock and Betty Ann Glascock

They Work Like Animals!

DeWyse Construction did a great deal of repair work for us as well as the construction of a new garage. They were on time and worked well with other onsite contractor i.e., cement and excavation folks. The whole crew was great. They worked like animals. Definitely a good value. The workmanship was fantastic; much attention to detail. And they cleaned up after themselves each evening before they left.

The whole group: owners, office and construction crew were fun to be around. We found them to be safe, conscientious, talented, kind and considerate. Any other work we may need will be done by DeWyse Construction.

Sincerely,

Bob and Margie Bosman

Before - shown to right
After - shown below