Nico Construction LLC

Nico custom built our house in 2019 after we had spent the previous 3 1/2 years viewing over 120 newly constructed homes and talking with nearly every reputable contractor in the western suburbs of Des Moines. Most of them claimed to build 'quality', but at a non-competitive price. Nico comes from a long line of carpenters and fine craftsmen, and takes great pride in his work and in the homes he builds. As a master builder with many years of home-building experience and a 'hands-on' approach, he requires the same high quality work from his subs as he himself provides. In addition, his pre-construction estimate was spot on. All charges and costs were transparent, and all invoices were provided before we made payment. If this review sounds like we are his cheering squad, it is because we could not be more appreciative of the great job he did building our house. Our initial meeting with Nico was educational and informative. Whenever we talked with Nico, we learned something new - like only pea gravel should be used to fill in and around the foundation and garage since it does not hold moisture, which less-expensive sand does and which most builders use. Nico told us right from the start that he was working 'for us'. He charges a flat fee, not a percent of the final construction price - so when he advises you to upgrade something, you know it is his honest opinion based on his knowledge and experience. Nico's high standards include plenty of - spray foam insulation giving the house a high energy efficiency rating - solid wood trim instead of MDF - wood shelving in closets instead of wire - composite decking instead of cedar - Pella Impervia fiberglass windows - 6" concrete in the driveway and garage instead of 4" - 2 x 6 construction - a baffled floor in the basement that keeps the basement warmer and reduces humidity. It's hard to imagine what a difference a baffled floor makes until you've had one and we love it! Utility bills have been modest considering the 4600 sq ft we're heating and cooling. Not to give anyone the misimpression that Nico only recommends upgrades, he helped us immensely in determining where and how to cut costs, to make the most of our dollars. For us one of his cost cutting suggestions was going with two electric fireplaces, instead of the more expensive gas. Another cost cutting measure was he and his crew removed numerous small trees and several low-hanging branches from an enormous black walnut tree at a much more reasonable cost than if we had hired it done elsewhere. After living in our house for 4 1/2 years the only issues we have experienced were needing replacement of a switch and some recessed. Not long after completing our house, Nico also built our son's house, and remodeled our daughter's house and finished their basement. Again he provided high quality work for the best possible cost. Thank you, Nico!

Our heartfelt thanks to Nico and his wholly professional team for the phenomenal results they achieved for us on our kitchen, bath, laundry and patio renovation. I got the kitchen and pantry I have dreamed about for over 20 years with spectacular customizations of the island and range hood vent. Renovating a beloved family home built by the previous generation over 50 years ago was bound to have some challenges, and Nico and his team got it done while we lived in the home with only minor inconveniences start to finish in less than 3 months.

Cannot recommend Nico highly enough. He built our custom dream house in 2020 and we couldn’t be happier. If you recall, 2020 was the start of Covid and we broke ground in March, right before everything went crazy. I wondered if we should stop but Nico kept a cool head and insisted that we push on. He’d already locked in all of our pricing on our key materials and didn’t want those prices to expire. Thank goodness he felt that way because his clear thinking saved us at least $100k, likely more. We were also lucky enough to stay ahead of most of the shortages. Nico treats every dollar of your build as if the money was personally his. His clear goal is to get you the most well-built home for the best possible price, and he does NOT cut corners to achieve this. Quite the opposite. We had multiple people, people who know the industry well, comment along the way things like “wow, your builder knows what he’s doing, this place is a tank!” Nico is also very hands-on, responsive, and available. We’ve heard so many stories of people not being able to reach their builder with questions or concerns, but Nico was personally on-site more often than not. Although he had multiple projects going on, we never felt put off by him, not once. Add all of this to the fact that Nico is one of the nicest and kindest people you will ever meet, and it’s a no-brainer to work with him. To this day, we consider him a friend and not many people can say that about their builder. We love our home and plan to never leave it, but if we would ever need a builder again, it would definitely be Nico!

Excellent job! Quality of work and styles are amazing. Time spent on building our house was worthed. Deffinitly recommended.