Traverse City, Michigan · Established 1994

Site prep, excavation and demolition across Northwest Michigan.

Family owned and operated since 1994. The owner, Jim Kassel, is actively involved in every project — from a private gravel driveway to a subdivision, a municipal waterline or a wastewater treatment plant. Free estimates on everything we do.

Established
1994
Owner
Jim Kassel, 30+ years
Base
Traverse City, MI
Estimates
Free

Content on this page reviewed

Among the jobs already on our record

01

Site preparation

From gravel foundation to road cutting. If the ground has to be right before anything gets built on it, this is the work — and we have been doing it in this county since 1994, on jobs of any size.

  • Subdivision development
  • Gravel foundation
  • Erosion control
  • Road cutting
  • Commercial lots
  • Private driveways

Use the loader-on-the-torn-up-residential-road shot already on michiganexcavators.com. It is the single best picture on the current site and it belongs at the top of this service, not halfway down a homepage.

Date taken
Job location

Call about site prep — 231-929-7498

02

Excavation & contracting

The broad list. Our owner is actively involved in every project, which is the whole reason a job this varied can be run out of one Traverse City shop and still come back right the first time.

  • Excavation
  • Grading
  • Clearing
  • Road building
  • Subdivisions
  • Sewer and water
  • Storm sewer
  • Septic systems
  • Dewatering
  • Trucking
  • Concrete
  • Demolition
  • Orchard removal
  • Salting

Orchard removal is on that list for a reason. This is fruit and wine country, and taking out a worn-out block cleanly — stumps, roots, rows, and the ground left ready to replant — is its own job.

Call about excavation — 231-929-7498

03

Sewer & water

Sewer and waterline installation, repair and replacement, on jobs of any size and without any hassle. Residential, commercial and municipal — a local, family-owned business established in 1994.

  • Sewer and waterline installation, repair and replacement
  • Commercial
  • Residential
  • Municipal
  • Pressure testing

Nothing on the current site covers this line. One phone photograph of an open trench with the pipe bedded and ready for inspection would do it — take it on the next job before it gets backfilled.

Date taken
Job location

Call about sewer & water — 231-929-7498

04

Demolition & hauling

Get the concrete debris and dirt hauled away from your residential or commercial property. We have dump trucks to haul rocks, stones and dirt, and we make house calls. All our drivers are licensed and insured.

  • Trucking
  • Rock, stone and dirt hauling
  • Recycling
  • Concrete

Use the hammer-attachment-breaking-concrete shot already on the current site. It shows the machine actually working, which is the one thing a customer wants to see before they hand over a demolition job.

Date taken
Job location

Call about hauling — 231-929-7498

05

Special projects

From a basement to a baseball field. This is the part of the record that usually surprises people, and it is the reason a general contractor, a township or a vineyard owner should be calling us rather than someone who only digs holes.

  • Build roads
  • Curbs
  • Basements
  • Driveways
  • Vineyard
  • Township park
  • Waste water treatment plant
  • Baseball field
  • Tennis courts
  • Iron filtration plant

Use the large circular foundation/tank pour with the crew in hi-vis — already on the current site. It is the picture that proves the municipal and industrial work in this list actually happened.

Date taken
Job location

Call about a special project — 231-929-7498

Who you are hiring

Jim Kassel, owner

At 18, Jim travelled to Arizona, where he was certified in the trades, and he has been working construction in Northern Michigan ever since. With more than 30 years of experience he operates machinery to a high standard, has supervised countless projects, and now solely owns and manages N.W. Michigan Contracting. Jim and his family gladly call Northern Michigan home.

That matters on a job site: the person quoting the work is the person who runs it.

Talk to Jim — 231-929-7498

  • Since 1994 — family owned and operated
  • Member Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce
  • Member Builders Exchange
  • Drivers Licensed and insured
  • Estimates Free, on every service
  • Area Traverse City and Northwest Michigan

What a customer said

“Very knowledgeable and friendly staff.”

Jack R.

That is the one published review we have, and its date is printed here rather than hidden. If we have worked for you since, a couple of lines on our Google listing or our Facebook page would help the next person decide.

Ask for an estimate

Estimates are free. The fastest route is the phone — 231-929-7498 — but if it is easier to write it down, three boxes is all we need.