Schmidt Construction

Wow!! Mike, and Andrew and his crew, did a fabulous job on our retaining wall. It was done for a fair price and completed in a short time. We are extremely happy on how it turned out. They were very knowledgeable and listened to what we wanted and it showed when they were all done. Very very happy!!

Mike Schmidt and his team delivered a great kitchen and it wasn't easy to make our small 1940s kitchen an efficient clean and beautiful room. Mike Schmidt really is a talent and he went the extra mile solving any and all issues regarding the job. We chose a clean modern cabinet but i wanted to keep open glass doors on one side of the upper cabinets. Mike searched for a glass door that we wanted and matched the glossy finish perfectly which required some real effort. He also was great at seeing our vision and giving us choices while also being open about what in his experience will work and meet our expectations. The kitchen is fantastic and i am so impressed with the level of detail. Everything is straight and level which wasn't the case in our old kitchen prior to the renovation. We stayed on budget and his team was hardworking and professional. The whole thing took 2 to 3 weeks. Mr. Schmidt was on site daily to look at the progress and keep us aware of what was happening. We love our kitchen and were so lucky to have found Schmidt construction. Talented. professional, and honest. He made us feel important and got the job done right. Thank You

I had a great experience with Mike and his team. My husband and I had never done a big remodel before and Mike held our hands every step of the way. The kitchen was completely gutted and I could not be happier with the work that he did. Everything came out even better than anticipated and on budget too! It took about a week longer than expected, but only because the team was determined to get every last detail perfect.

Mike Schmidt and his crew were awesome to work with and they did a wonderful job making my kitchen ideas come to life. My house was built in 1953 and has never had any updating to speak of in the kitchen. When Mike came to my house to give me a bid, he was such an upbeat, positive person. He listened to all my ideas and always made me feel like my ideas had value. When they encountered hurdles, because my house is old, they would discuss the challenge with me in full, and brainstorm ideas with me of how to still make my ideas happen-in a way that would work. It was so helpful having them there brainstorming with me, like they could see into my head at what I was dreaming of. They truly worked on this job like it was their own house and project. Mike is a positive person and super easy to talk to. I don't think Mike every had a bad day. He seems to love life, the work he does, and customers he serves. Joe and Rick both have such expertise on the job. They quite obviously have had a lot of experience because everything they worked on turned out to be quality work. I have already recommended Mike, Joe, and Rick to a few of my friends who have been VERY happy with the work, and with the great referral. I will continue to use Schmidt Construction myself any time I need work done, and continue to recommend Schmidt Construction to my friends. I smile a big smile every time I walk into my new, beautiful IKEA Kitchen!!

• Services Performed: Yes

This review is woefully overdue.  Mike and his crew are the best!!  Joe and Rick have become like family.  I work from home, and my husband is retired, so we are around the house all day.  We have witnessed nothing but respectful, professional behavior and top-notch work.  Everyone is so easy to communicate with, and we have always been able to problem solve as needed.  You never know what you're going to find when you start tearing into an old house, and each challenge has been handled successfully and to our satisfaction.  I have always had strong opinions about what I think I want, but, I have to say, sometimes the guys have even better ideas.  I respect their experience and trust their judgment.  As a homeowner for 30+ years, I can say without hesitation that this is the best contractor and team I have ever worked with.  I would never think of hiring anyone else. 

Ran into difficulties not caused by the contractor.  This left the project unfinished for sometime and then it was hard to get them back to finish the project.  However, the quality of the finished project was completed as was agreed and specified.

Footnotes if TLDR. Charged $10K for a ?top end custom bathroom?. Supposed to take a week, took almost two months, only worked 2 hours a day, if they bothered to show up at all. None of the walls are square and the floor isn?t level. Sloppy carpentry, ?sloppy tile, grout cracking and falling out, joints don?t meet. Did over $5k in damage to my house. Still waiting for a full refund of my $6000. Trying to charge the remaining $4000 for the original quote despite the act that the entire bathroom needs to be stripped back down to the frame. Also tried to tag on approximately $2000 in ?change requests?. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! This entire project was ?nightmare.? Tub was originally supposed to be completely refinished. Then Mike said they couldn't do a complete refinish but would fix the porcelain around the drain holes. Never completed the work. Tried to cover it up with plumbers putty and caulk. Reminded several times to retain the original hardwood moldings. They did not. Mike told me twice during the job that they had them all. Then when it was time to put them on they were gone. Mike refused to replace them with equivalent hardwood moldings, replacing them with bargain store pine and tried to stain to match the remaining doors and window frame. Trim is a splotchy disgusting mess that looks nothing like the existing wood. Got stain on brand new vanity $800.? The bathroom was torn down to the frame, but they made no attempt to plumb or square the reconstruction. The moldings sit approximately 3/8? away from the wall at the corners. I pointed this out andI was assured that it was in fact square and when it was finished that it would be fine. Later, after pressing the workers and Mike, they were totally aware that nothing was plumb or square and didn't fix it to save time assuming I wouldn?t notice when finished.? ?Mike claimed the tile guy was ?the best in Omaha". Tile looks like it was done by someone who didn?t watch enough youtube videos. The grout lines are completely uneven. Varying from 1/4? to 0? top to bottom. Grout started cracking within days. None of the tiles are cut squarely or cleanly, cut faces are out of square and jagged.chewed. All the holes for the fixtures were cut with wood hole saws, leaving an even worse chipped and generally destroyed appearance.? The walls were all supposed to be wainscoted, instead they were beadborded. But by this point I just wanted them out of my house so I go. They overcoat and mangled all the corner cuts, then to cover up the sloppy work they built the window and door moldings over the top of the mangled beadboard. So none of the door or window molding sit flat to the wall. I said that this all needed to be done over correctly, refused, solution a tube of caulk.? The back wall behind the vanity is so crooked the crown molding won?t sit flush despite a nail every inch. Refused fix, solution, a tube of caulk.? They didn?t measure the outlet locations correctly. They were measured out for a frameless door, not 3? frames. So the switch is up against the door frame. Then when they caulked the door (not flat against wall) they didn't remove the switch surround. So the caulk stops and you can see into the wall around the switch outlet.? The floor under the toilet isn?t level. Another tube of caulk to try to hide it. But couldn?t be bothered to caulk all the way around the toilet, left the back undone. The floor tiles aren't set right and poke you in the feet it you are barefoot, the baseboards don't meet the floor, the floor isn?t level, door frames don?t go to floor, wall so crooked the vanity nor the medicine cabinet will sit flush against it, solution for everything, bright white caulk despite the fact that all the grout is grey. Supposed to install a moisture sensing automatic fan, vented to the exterior of house. Instead installed a cheap combination ceiling light/fan, without approving the swap. They said that they routed it to a roof vent. Just another lie. It?s vented straight into my attic. My attic has an exposed brick fireplace in it. Once it got cold, the moisture condensed on the fireplace and ran down inside the wall destroying plaster in my office. $2500 repair.? The workers put their foot through the kitchen ceiling when redoing the bathroom floor joists, the patch job they did is laughably bad and they refuse to redo it. $800 repair. The workers busted the water main shutoff when they cut the water to do the plumbing, refused to own up to it, cost $135 to fix.? Busted the backyard water spigot when using my hose to cut tile. This dumped water into my electrical box flooding it. Put a new washer in the spigot, refused to do anything about the electrical box $1035 to fix.? They used my front porch to store material and cut wood. Busted out the ends of two boards in the porch and then rigged them back in place so I wouldn?t notice until after they cleared out. $1200 repair.? I have waited for 4 months for my full refund of the $6000 down payment. ? Mike swears "No-one in Omaha could possibly deliver more. You judge.

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It was fine.  The crew was very professional and the job was done in a prompt manner as it was promised.  I would use them again for any kind of brick laying that I would need in the future.

Quit reading and call Mike - he'll do you right.? The price was competitive - no dickering needed.? The quality of the work was outstanding - any issues were promptly addressed and resolved.? The team was more than just responsive, they were proactive about potential issues and making suggestions that turned out wonderful.

GREAT

A huge improvement.

Mike and his crew were great!  When the weather cleared, they built a solid wooden 90 degree angle retaining wall rising from over 6 foot in the corner, and flowing down and following the terrain for 45 feet in both directions.  They anchored it well, and filled the cavity with gravel to allow good drainage.  The wall isn't going anywhere!  It took a little over 2 days to complete, but the quality was outstanding.  I wouldn't hesitate using Schmidt Construction again.

UPDATE: Our project has been completed and the work is excellent! A crew of 6-8 guys worked for about 10 days (due to some heavy rains) and were able to tear out the mess that was our backyard and rebuilt a 4.5 foot tie wall. It looks beautiful! Mike and the crew had to access the wall through our neighbors' backyard. The crew was very respectful and communicated well with the neighbors. As the wall is holding up our property we don't get the benefit of viewing the new wall, but our neighbors are extremely happy with the finished product as are we. People in the neighborhood have inquired about the builder as it looks so good! Schmidt construction built the wall with good drainage, a couple of feet of compacted fill rock, and pre-treated wood. We did have to increase the height of the wall from the original 3 foot on the bid to 4.5 feet to accommodate the slope of our yard. Mike was very thoughtful when talking with us about the adjustment. It did not come as a surprise to us because other companies had bid a 4 foot wall so we knew it might need to be higher. We appreciated that Mike was not trying to up-sell us, but was trying to give us the best final result. We are on a tight budget for the remodeling that needed to take place and would not have agreed to the change order unless it was the best long term solution. The driveway had several concrete slabs jacked up and completely redone. The new areas look wonderful and our drainage issues have been resolved! Perfect! We have called on Schmidt Construction for other needs around the house as we have been tackling our fixer upper. I stand by my original posting that Mike is a great guy who will do right by you!

ORIGINAL POST:My husband and I really enjoyed Mike when he came over to give us the bid for our work. He was very kind, honest and had a good balance of connecting with us on a personal level while staying focused on the job at hand.  I appreciated his opinion on what needed to be replaced and what was in good current condition.  It would be easy for a contractor to try and sell a whole new driveway, but Mike gave us honest feedback on where we needed to replace concrete slabs for proper drainage, where we could use a little mud-jacking to get the slabs more level, and what was in good condition. His bid for the retaining wall came in at a fair price for the extent of the work. His bid was the first and the best one we received. Mike suggested we get several bids, talk to other contractors, and get back to him if we chose to go with his company. Good advice from a good man. We are curently awaiting to be scheduled to have the work performed.  I will update my review in a couple of weeks (late October) when the work has been completed to give feedback on the quality of work and our experience once our property is being ripped up and put back together.

It was good. The price was reasonable and they did a good job.

Everything went well, any issues with the job were communicated to us by Mike and we were able to ask any questions without any issues.

We immediately liked Mike Schmidt when we met him for the
first time when he came to our house to talk to us on how we wanted to remodel
our kitchen and give an estimate.  Mike is a positive person who is a
great listener, very approachable, easy to talk to and always in a great
mood.  I can not emphasize enough what a great listener he was to our
ideas for our kitchen. Other contractors we had contacted before Mike for
estimates had said they only do this option or this option and that was it and
would not listen to our ideas and were rude.  My wife had very specific
ideas of things she wanted in the new kitchen along with several custom made
things that would be unique in our kitchen.  Mike was always polite and
said Joe and his crew could do all of those things.  He wrote down all of
her ideas.  My wife also gave him a photograph of an industrial type steel
railing she saw on Pinterest and wanted that railing custom made along with a
gate to match to stop our grandchild from going downstairs and also for our
dogs. She also wanted a feature wall where the entire wall would have old
barnwood on it and a custom made pantry screen door with old barn wood on it
also. Joe built and installed all these things.  Mike would bring pieces
of barn wood to see what we thought of it and sent pictures of wood.  Mike
and Joe always asked and listened to my wife's ideas and made great suggestions
too on things that sounded like what she was looking for. Mike always answers
his phone and is very willing to answer questions.
Joe takes great pride in his work and everything he works with turns out
awesome.  He also is a great listener and is in a great mood.  Mike
and Joe and crew were always on time and did a great job of cleaning before
they left each day.  We are so amazed at how beautiful the railing and
gate are that Joe created, welded together and installed.
Mike and Joe truly represent what a contractor should be.  They showed the
following:
Listens well, are in great moods, can talk to them on ideas and/or changes,
friendly, creates a positive environment, enjoys their work, communicates well
with talking, sending a text, answering the phone, and sending e-mails
including suggestion photos and ideas, extremely hard working, great pride in
their work and have a great price for remodeling.
Mike is the best contractor I have ever worked with. Joe is amazing and can
create and install anything the customer would like.  Joe told my wife how
he was so looking forward to creating our railing and gate. Joe loves his job.
This is the best contractor experience we have ever had. I have already
recommended Mike and Joe to all our friends and will contact them again for any
future remodeling. 
 Everything in our kitchen is exactly how we pictured it in our minds, We love it,
are very happy and are totally satisfied!! Thank you Mike and Joe!!

Mike was great to work with! We have an old house, and whenever we do anything to it, we find things we don't expect. I explained that to Mike and he did an absolutely amazing job remodeling my bath. He brought in at the bid rate even though once again we found things we did not expect! I have worked with Mike before and would recommend him he really goes above and beyond the call of duty when working for you. I have some great people I would only work with. Mike is one of those. Thanks for the lovely bathroom! It makes a huge difference!

We are sure glad that we had Mike Schmidt replace our deck and retaining wall and place a stone walkway. We secured two bids from qualified contractors who both had a vision that we realized was theirs and not ours. We are glad we resisted the urgings to use fake composite.  Mike knew we preferred real cedar and he came up with a very stylish diagonal design with solid black railings. The store bought posts just did not match so Mike's crew hand cut cedar posts.  We sought a unique living space that was functional, inviting and personal. I wonder if he is a mind reader since he took to little direction yet crafted the perfect construction to meet our needs. We had a wet spring and we fully expected delay. Mike just did the things that can be done in the rain to keep the project on track to completion.  His crew did not allow the weather to delay progress.  

Mike also installed a new retaining wall that is so much more solid and aesthetically pleasing. We have a two story house with a walk out basement and the challenges of topography and existing doorways flustered the other bidders. Mike knew how to make it all flow with gorgeous flagstone steps. We've really seen nothing like it in a catalogue or magazine or on line. His creativity is paralleled with his attentiveness and genuine desire to please the customer. Knowing it was incomplete without tying the stones and deck into the driveway, he incorporated metal sculpturing, vines and mulch through a local contractor that seemed like a kindred spirit to Mike. 

Don't get us wrong  -- he does not take over. He listens and is responsive. Mike answers his telephone every time, is positive and cheerful and honest. This was however our project but sometimes you don't know quite what you want until someone enlightens you with the possibilities. That is Mike. He is approachable, is never offended with questions and is a good soul. 



We were very happy we were able to use Mike Schmidt and rate him an "A" in all categories.  

We cannot say enough positive things about Mike Schmidt.? Our home?s layout and spaces presented come challenges for what we wanted to do in the kitchen and other places. Contractors kept telling us we could not have what we wanted. They all said it would not work. Even the sales people at the store discouraged us. Mike never once said it was impossible (or unduly complicated) like the others had. For example, we wanted to run gas to our kitchen. The other contractors had us convinced that this required all these holes in the walls and basement ceilings. Mike studied it and figured out a much cheaper, less invasive path. He also met us at NFM and helped identify the correct appliances, such as the cook top, oven and stove, etc. He understood what we wanted and made it happen. He is more than a contractor.? He is also a darn good consultant. We had him design and install built-in cabinets.? Once again, he met us at the store to assist in choosing the best remnant. He has a nack of offering his creative input without taking over the entire design and making it all his vision. He is patient and knowledgeable, friendly and efficient. His people have installed restroom stools and vanities, laid tile, finished walls and hung several fixtures.? One of the best things about Mike Schmidt is that he is reliable and honest. Other contractors start the project, get overextended with multiple jobs and do not finish on time. When Mike says he will be there he is. ?Every time we call, he answers the phone. We never hear a batch of excuses, mostly since there is nothing to be excused. Completion of the project is never a problem. His workers are trustworthy and friendly.? When we discovered things behind the walls no one could have known were there, he went into problem solving mode. MIke just delivers and that is most refreshing.? I highly recommend Mike Schmidt. I liked him from the moment we met. We are on our fourth home in Omaha and have needed contractors at every one of them. We shall never need to look for a new one. ?We give him an A.

Mike is a nice man, but seemed to have trouble with remembering what we had discussed  and communicating details to his crew.  I can't say enough good things about Rick, but Joe is another matter.  He argued with everything I requested, saying "that's not standard".  
The trouble began when Bellevue found out Mike hadn't pulled work permits.  We had warned him that they would be needed.  So they had to pack their stuff and leave - leaving us torn up bathrooms and our only toilet in the basement.  We had to staple plastic over the doors since the ceiling was open and it was very cold outside. 
Eventually the work permits came through but since Mike isn't licensed in Bellevue he had to go thru other contractors.  And thank goodness he did!  Joe had originally wanted to put an electrical outlet right smack in front of the sink facet (who does that??).  He changed it to the left but I'm right handed - that was going to drive me nuts.  The wonderful qualified electrician fixed that right up and added a waterproof light over the master bath.  The toilets had to be re-piped to make code, as well. 
Here are all the problems:  The pocket door is crooked and doesn't open smoothly.  It takes some effort to get it open & closed.  The marble tiles (and ceramic floor tiles) are uneven, as in the tops aren't flush.  Mike had to call in a 2nd guy to redo some of the marble in the bathtub as the gap in the corners was more than 1/4 inch wide.  Joe covered this with caulk originally.  Which I had to scrape off as it was the vilest smell imaginable.  There is still some in the hall bath and it continues to stink months later.  Joe refused to put on the tub skirt, saying Mike hadn't told him.  Well, it wouldn't have taken much to move the wood around to make room, as he already had it set up as a drop in.  At that point I just threw up my hands and let him do the drop in - I was sick of his attitude.  They tried to put the light/fan over the tubs, which didn't meet code and had to be moved.    The bathtub is not level and since they put in in a cement bed instead of what came with it, that is permanent.  Joe also argued about raising a medicine cabinet a couple inches and refused to put in some baseboard.  And the shelf in the hall vanity.  Turns out he would have had to cut it due to the piping & maybe didn't want to make the effort.  Also, he failed the plumbing inspection by switching the hot & cold feeds to the facet and using one of those accordion PVC pipes instead of doing it properly.   The fan in the master bath does not and never has worked. 
We aren't happy about having to write this review, but then again aren't happy with the work.  I look at the results and think "dang, I could do better than that."  And have.  So, not professionally done - more like handymen. 
We had to refinance our house to afford this remodel.  It will take some time to save up enough to hire a good carpenter for the door, etc.  Very, very disappointed. 

Mike's crew did a great job and were always friendly and courteous.  They did their best to work with us on where to place the materials they were using for the new wall and were always willing listen to our concerns and suggestions.
The materials were delivered on 7-2-13 and the job was completed on 7-11-13 in about a week just as Mike had said it would be.
Mike was the only contractor out of the 4 people that I called that showed up and gave us a bid.   He actually was able to tell us on the night he came out how much the wall would cost.  We had one other contractor that came out 3 weeks before Mike but that person never got back to us with a price.
The wall looks great and it's a relief to have the old rickety wall down and gone for good.

It was a pleasure to work with Mike and his crew. When I was looking for bids I contacted numerous contractors. Mike responded within 1 day. The other contractors took days to respond. The work crew led by Joe was very professional. The arrived at the job site on time. removed the old driveway. The filled in the gap under the driveway (the length of the driveway, about 18 inches deep and 4 feet wide. The contractor who put in the original driveway did not do a good job. The drainage on the side of the house near the driveway added to the creation of the  gap. This was corrected by a landscaping contractor prior to the driveway replacement. The crew put down crushed concrete in the driveway. The next day they removed the sidewalk, poured the concrete for the driveway and sidewalk. Joe rounded out the poured concrete and divided the poured concrete into small individual blocks (just in case they needed replacement years down the road.
 I was impressed on how well the crew did the job. This was when the temperatures in Omaha were around 100 degrees.
It has been over a year now and the driveway looks like it did the day it was replaced.

See above.