Our Clients’ Story
Over the past three decades, we have developed and built beautiful homes for hundreds of satisfied clients.
Here are some of our clients’ stories.
We built a 3,000 square foot addition onto our 1893 Victorian home in the Sesquicentennial neighborhood near downtown Champaign. We interviewed three custom home builders. Each came to our home, took notes, and provided us with a written proposal outlining the scope of their work and cost estimates. The first two proposals were professional and were clearly the product of serious thought. Mike and Kirk’s proposal was a PhD thesis by comparison. Mike and Kirk first began to win our confidence by explaining their open book approach to the financial side of construction. They have rightly discovered that clients want to see behind the curtain—where all the money goes. To that end, when you work with Mike Martin Builders, you see how every penny gets spent.
Mike maintained and shared with us an Excel spreadsheet listing every vendor and subcontractor, their respective fees, each change order, running totals and remaining balances. The MMB fee was a simple percentage of the total construction cost, agreed upon at the outset, and reflected as its own line item on the Excel spreadsheet. About every 30 days Mike would send us an updated version showing who got paid, how much, and the balances remaining. This was a crucial selling point for us at the beginning and only proved more valuable as the project got underway and we found more ornaments to hang on the tree.
I probably spent a hundred hours with Kirk Skelton during our 6-month project. A businessman with calloused hands, he wielded hammer and pen with equal skill. He seemed to have the entire construction blueprint committed to memory. Kirk would visit the jobsite almost daily to check in with each crew. He jumped in to help with a large concrete pour in golf shorts and climbed onto a third-story roof that made me rehearse my call to his wife if he fell. A gentleman and diplomat with the neighbors, he was also liked and respected by the workers onsite. So many problems were avoided early because Kirk saw them coming and planned accordingly. But most enjoyably, every time Kirk showed up to the jobsite he was in a good mood and never left without laughing.
I understand that for builders, construction is an exercise in the management of man and material. As clients, we were impressed to see Mike and Kirk leverage their long-standing relationships with vendors and subcontractors to our benefit. And when faced with a couple of very difficult problems during our project, we marveled at how Mike and Kirk chose to handle them. We more than once said to ourselves, “I can’t imagine doing this with anyone other than Mike and Kirk.”
We recommend Mike Martin Builders completely and without reservation.
— Cynthia & Tony Bruno
— Pat Turk
What Our Clients Are Saying
“Building a home with Mike Martin Builders was a wonderful experience. From our initial meeting through the completion of our home, Mike and Kirk made the process of building our home easy. We were impressed with their attention to detail, communication, and timeliness. They were able to provide us with fair, competitive pricing. Most importantly, we trusted them fully with the home building process.”
— Jamie & John Clausen
“We hired Mike Martin Builders to combine two adjacent condos downtown Champaign before a move from Canada in 2019. Mike and his sub-contractors were fantastic to work with. They kept us up to date with the progress remotely, providing us with detailed updates on the costs and going-ons throughout the project. We arrived to an absolutely gorgeous home and could not be more pleased!”
— Anh Voung & Martin Persson
“For an enjoyable house building experience, we recommend Mike Martin Builders. Mike and Kirk were always fair and easy to work with. They pay attention to detail and walk you through every step of the process of high-quality construction. They took the time to understand our needs and desires for our home, and engaged in identifying and overcoming obstacles in order to achieve our goals. The homebuilding process can be all consuming and stressful. However, Mike and Kirk really minimized all of that and made building our forever home a fantastic experience. They really were great to work with; we love our home and recommend Mike Martin Builders without hesitation!”
— Kate & Matt Deering
“The most invaluable benefit of having Mike and Kirk build your home is PEACE OF MIND. You will never find more qualified while also honest and decent people to build your new home. We were constantly informed and updated from first discussions through final punch lists and really, really appreciated their straight forward and open communication style. Options were presented to us thoughtfully and with all the information needed to make solid decisions. Mike and Kirk care greatly about quality and will always have your best interests at heart - they cared more about our satisfaction than any of the numerous contractors we ever worked with. They are the best kind of businessmen around and we can unequivocally recommend their services.”
— Jeni & Mike Thomas
“Building our new home with MMB was an absolute dream come true!! Mike & Kirk made the process smooth, easy, and stress free. We have no words to express how grateful & fortunate to have MMB build our new home. Their attention to detail and quick response to any questions or concerns was refreshing. If we ever build again, we would definitely choose MMB! We absolutely trust Mike & Kirk and highly recommend them to anyone! They will take good care of you along the home building process. Thank you for making this once in a lifetime experience amazing, Mike & Kirk!!”
— Myoung Kim & Aric Rindfleisch
“When we made a decision to return to Champaign for our “permanent home” there was only one builder for us to visit with about our renovation plans. From our first visit to the very end of an extensive renovation, we’ve been delighted with Mike, Kirk & their team every step of the way. The work has been meticulous and as questions arose along the way we appreciated the thoughtful communication. The end product is even nicer than we could have imagined, and perfectly represents our taste and lifestyle. Working with Mike Martin Builders has been one of the most rewarding and pleasurable experiences we've ever had!”
— Carol Stack & John Schumacher
“We have enjoyed our new Mike Martin Builders home for seven years now and continue to be thankful that we chose Mike & Kirk as our builders. During the construction phase Mike was incredibly organized and ensured that we stayed on schedule and within our budget. The job site was clean, and Kirk & subcontractors were outstanding! We moved in on time and on budget! We can recommend Mike Martin Builders without hesitation for a new construction or renovation project.”
— Lynn & Scott Anderson
“Mike and Kirk at Mike Martin Builders have been amazing to work with on our custom home build. They have guided us through every step and made what could have been an overwhelming process a very enjoyable one. They go above and beyond, take great pride in their work, and we have always felt that they are looking out for our best interest.”
— Whitney & Kyle Smith
“Working with Mike and Kirk on a complete remodel of our home was an outstanding experience. They guided us every step of the way, from the estimating stage to the final close out of a complex renovation. The Team at Mike Martin Builders prides themselves on being true craftsmen, anticipating and solving every concern without issue, and they will settle for nothing less than perfection for their clients. Mike and Kirk built tremendous trust with us during our building process and we could not be more pleased with our new home and Mike Martin Builders!”
— Joy & Kenny Bilger
“We were thoroughly impressed with the work done for us by Mike Martin Builders. They did a difficult renovation of an 80 year old cape cod. Mike and Kirk thought creatively while respecting the integrity of the home. The project required exacting work which Kirk executed to perfection. The project came in on schedule and on budget. Working with Mike and Kirk was a pleasure in every aspect. They stayed with our project until they and we were completely satisfied. We give Mike Martin Builders our highest recommendation.”
— Diana & Ward McDonald
“We loved working with Mike Martin Builders. We trusted them and felt comfortable that they always had our best interest at heart. They were always fair and quick to address any issues or concerns.”
— Jen & Parham Parastaran
“Mike and Kirk did a wonderful job remodeling our home. From start to finish, they were extremely professional and kind. Oftentimes they went out of their way to help us with a challenge we needed addressed. They were upfront and honest with all costs and setbacks and were very involved in every step of the process. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to build or remodel!.”
— Erika & Chris Mennig
“We hired Mike Martin Builders to gut and rehab a bathroom of ours while we would be out of town. Mike and Kirk both came to our house and brought their subcontractor’s along so that there would be no unknowns to the scope and cost of the project. Mike showed me by line item the cost for all the work along with the cost for various upgrades or downgrades. Going into the project I knew exactly what work to expect and the cost to expect. As we were out of town during most of the project, both Mike and Kirk kept me abreast of the progress. After the work was completed, Kirk came back himself to make a few last-minute changes we wanted. The bathroom turned out better than expected and I would recommend Mike Martin Builders to anyone that I know.”
— Hillary & Graham Tennant