The Builders Journal

By: Heather Levin

Growing up, Mark LeMense never envisioned himself building homes. He knew that he’d be doing something with his hands, but he honestly thought it would be in the field of cabinetry. He loved working with wood, and was good at it. But building homes?

“I never would have thought I’d be doing this,” he says. It happened slowly, as it so often does, with just one house, his own.. Mark had been a commercial project coordinator with a prominent cabinetry company in the De Pere area for 15 years when he decided to build his home himself. He’d picked up a lot of experience on the job, and thought he could do it. It turned out he was right.

“I enjoyed every aspect of it,” Mark says. “I looked forward to working with the subcontractors as well as physically working on the house itself. It was a great experience.” After his was finished he did another, and then another, selling them as specs. The snowball grew from there, into custom homes, and four years ago LeMense Quality Homes was born.

Mark worked diligently to put together a good crew of workers and subcontractors that possess a strong work ethic. “I am proud of the team I have put together.” Mark and his crew do all the staining, trim work, finish carpentry. He works closely with a designer to make sure his clients get the home they were dreaming of, and goes the extra mile to make sure they’re completely satisfied.

“My clients get my complete attention,” Mark says. “They always deal directly with me, and not with a foreman or an expeditor. I do everything in my power to make sure they’re happy, that the house is finished on time, and that their expectations are met. They know they can call me anytime and I’ll pick up my phone.”

Raymond Hardy can attest to this fact. Mark built Ray’s home the summer of 2005. “He was fantastic,” he says. “And he’s got great initiative. If a problem came up and he had a few minutes he’d just go fix it himself instead of finding someone to delegate it to. He even let me help out at the jobsite-I wanted to contribute and he had no problem with that. I don’t know of another builder that would have allowed that. He made the whole process a lot of fun.”

Another special touch that Mark offers his clients is a spreadsheet filled with important information-names and phone numbers of the subs they need to see, as well as their allotted budget for each area of the house. That way projects don’t get blown out of proportion. “I try to simplify things as much as possible,” Mark says. “People shouldn’t have to lose sleep over a building project. The spreadsheet tells my clients who they need to call and when and how much money they can spend to stay on target financially with the house. It’s just something small, but it makes it easy for them and I think they appreciate it.”

Mark and his crew build around eight homes a year. Mark’s primary job is coordinating the efforts of his team and making sure things run smoothly, but his favorite part is still working directly on the home itself.

“I love working alongside my subcontractors,” he says. “They’re the backbone of my business, and if they didn’t provide such quality work I wouldn’t be here. One man can’t build a house by himself. The team I’ve put together really does a great job. Everyone works together for the common goal of finishing the house and providing a quality home to its owner.”

One of the homes photographed for this issue is a 4400 square foot custom ranch located in Sugar Creek overlooking to bay of Green Bay. It features unique archways, hardwood floors, ceramic tile, tray ceilings, and a beautiful handmade brick on the interior foyer wall.

“I loved working with the mason on this home,” Mark says. “It was a great learning experience.” Mark and his crew continuously strive to educate themselves on upcoming trends in the industry. They attend the National Builder’s Conference every year and frequently attend local trade shows and seminars that are offered in the area.

“I like to stay open-minded,” Mark says. “There are always new products and new techniques coming out, and if I want to offer the best home to my clients I need to stay on top of the latest and greatest that is out there. My subcontractors are also great about sharing their knowledge with me.”

Mark supposes his success has come from a combination of personal attention to his clients and his quality workmanship. “Anyone can make a house look beautiful on the outside,” Mark says. “But I think it’s what is inside the home that really counts. If your foundation isn’t rock solid and if the insulation isn’t a high R- Value, it’s just not going to be a comfortable home to live in. I’m proud of the fact that my homes are well put together.”

Mark likes to use the same subcontractors for every home he builds. Whether it’s a $125,000 home or a million dollar home, the craftsmanship is the same. “I treat them all equally,” he says. “The homes I build for people are going to their investment for a long time, no matter what size they are. I want to make sure that no corners are cut, that my clients get a great home they are happy with.”

It is rare to find Mark not working, but when he is not on the job he enjoys boating and four wheeling with his family.

The Builder’s Journal is a monthly trade magazine mailed to residential building professionals in nine counties of northeast Wisconsin (Green Bay and surrounding communities). Individuals and companies featured as cover stories have been nominated by their peers within the industry based upon their business ethics, quality of workmanship, and dedication to their customers. For more information about the magazine please call Matt M Miotke Publisher of The Builder’s Journal for NE Wisconsin at (800) 666-5659.

(Reproduced from "The Builder's Journal", with permission.)