We started building our home with Pete & Amy in January of 2012 and it was finished in September, 2012. We are THRILLED with the end product. We had built one other home prior to this one (in 2005), and the process with Widhalm was far more flexible and collaborative. Pete is not only a great builder, but an amazing & creative architect as well - he drew up the floorplan for our home in addition to building it.
Pete is very detail oriented, and very specific in making sure that everything comes together perfectly. I will say that he's not the fastest builder out there (he said it would take 8 months and it did), but he is a perfectionist which we found to be far more important. He would frequently find things to correct from the sub-contractors that we didn't even notice were a problem. When it came to the final walk through, he didn't like the way that the counter jutted out in our upstairs bathroom (we didn't notice a problem at all) and told us he was going to have his carpenter come in, rip it out and fix it.. and he did it within a week. This attention to detail blew us away.. I'm sure that cost & time wasn't really something he had budgeted for, but having everything look perfect was VERY important to Pete.
Additionally, our budget was another huge factor - and we did not want to go over what we were quoted. Unlike a lot of builders we spoke with - Pete & Amy gave us a very realistic allowance for everything. We ended up $800 over budget for the entire house, and those were due to upgrades we decided to make later on in the process. His numbers were spot on for what he said we would get. We also wanted to order a few things we'd found online (sink, light fixtures), and not only did they not have a problem doing that.. there were no change order charges that builders typically throw in.
We've now been in our home for almost 2 years, and have had very few problems. We did have a leak in a basement window after a torrential rain storm a few weeks ago, and Pete came out right away to check everything out and make the needed repairs. He came out himself as well, instead of sending someone else, which we have always appreciated when working with him. He takes complete ownership the homes he builds, and stays in touch well after they are completed.
Overall, I think the modern, clean-line look of our home is very unique to the Omaha area. Pete exceeded our expectations, and we are very fortunate to have had him build our home! I would recommend him to anyone in the Omaha area who is looking to build a Modern or Mid-Century Modern home!
