Mr. Schmidt is a construction professional with nearly 15 years experience, including eight years m anaging construction projects repairing hom es suffering water dam age resulting from exterior construction defects.
His experience includes scoping construction project requirements, designing, bidding and financing projects as well as project managing on-site work.
Mr. Schmidt is part owner of AMEK Custom Builders, which has repaired more than 2,500 homes in the Twin Cities and custom built new homes.
2000 – Present Part Owner AMEK Custom Builders Bloomington, MN
1998 – 2000 Sole proprietor of a siding companyMinneapolis, MN
1997 – 1998 Siding Installer for a sole proprietor in Chicago, IL
1996 – 1997 Roofing installer AMEK ConstructionBloomington, MN
ACE (Achievement in Consumer Excellence) award from NARI 2011
I have been involved as an expert on more than 200 cases, both as a part of the defense and the plaintiff legal teams.
1. Defendant Case: Homeowner suing builder. I was part of the builder defense team. The home in dispute was a partially finished 12,000-square-foot home completed through the stucco and roof, insulation, sheetrock and mechanicals phases. The homeowner had halted the contract and hired an engineering firm who suggested that the house needed to be torn down and rebuilt at a potential cost of $1.4-1.5M. I was hired by the defense attorney to determine an appropriate scope of work that would repair any construction defects. The construction defects identified totaled less than $50,000. I confirmed with an engineer that the house design was not suited for the South Dakota climate. I also submitted a scope of work to tear off all the stucco, the roof tile, and remove all the doors and windows to show that the items had been installed correctly. My cost to upgrade the home design and retrofit it to meet the South Dakota climate was $650,000, less than half of the recommended rebuild price of $1.4-1.5M.
2. Plaintiff Case: Townhome Association suing builder. I was part of the Association plaintiff team. The project involved a dispute about the excavation performed around the townhomes, a potential $4M claim. The driveways and foundations were not excavated properly and the wrong fill was used, causing both uplift and sink holes. I determined a scope of work to replace all the driveways, sidewalks, fix improper footings, reattach entry roofs, landscaping, drainage and to arrange for all the logistics of a restricted site, including privacy fencing.
3. Forensic Investigation: During stucco replacement, I found signs of moisture damage throughout the exterior cladding of the house. During my forensic investigation, I determined that the damage was widespread and fairly uniform and as such, not consistent with a point leak source. I interviewed the homeowner who revealed that there had been high condensation on the home interior during the spring season. I was able to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the homeowner that the source of the moisture damage was the unusually high condensation damage on the inside of the home. I showed the property owner the proper configuration of his air exchange system so that he could avoid this in the future.