Masonry Magazine May 2006 Page. 18
Contractor
One day someone came to Contractor and said, "How about I work for you?" I told him I couldn't afford him, but he was in a position financially and at a time in his life where he really wanted to freelance. So he opened doors for me that were always there, but I didn't know how to open. Because I was so young, he brought a little 'gray hair [to the business], which goes a long way. So he was on the sidelines opening a lot of doors.
People buy from people. You can buy a brick from anybody, but it's how it's put in and who's going to stand behind it. My father was very well liked in the industry and it changed things tremendously. It gave me a lot of confidence.
Once we started to do a lot of these bigger things, working it with the people directly and developing our market, gradually every year we've gone up in sales. For the most part, we've continued to grow for 28 years. Again, we just took it slow and steady only bidding and performing what we were capable of producing well. Word gets out.
Masonry:
Looking back over the years, what were a few of your most challenging projects and how did you overcome the obstacles?
Schmitt:
The first and foremost thing that comes to mind is St. Louis University's DuBourg Hall. This was a 103-year structure at the time, with heavy sand stone ornamentation that had been just let go for years. There were no profiles left on these stones, aside from the brick and the tuckpointing. It was a huge job for us at the time...
The beauty of that project was that the owners of the university knew what they were up against, so the financial constraints were there, but with the understanding of what they had to do. We had to bid it, but when we crossed a problem, they realized it and they went the distance. On a historical restoration like that, our job was to not only restore the utility value of the building skin, but also restore its former glory. We'd get up there and there would be stones four feet long that would just crumble. And the owners understood that and were willing to go the distance....
Often the hard part on some of the bigger, historical projects is when you first look at it, you're overwhelmed. It's putting your costs together that's the hard part. Until you hang a building or get up on it, you have no way of knowing how much stone is loose, how much stone is in jeopardy of falling, how many pieces are going to crumble in your hand. So, you come up with a basic scope and then develop unit costs. The owner has to be very open to the fact that he may get a half-million-dollar bid, and then get a $250,000 change order. You have to tell people this going in; you can't surprise them. There has to be a lot of trust in the relationship between the contractor and the owner that you're going to do the right thing that you're not going to take advantage of the situation.
Masonry:
What do you feel is the biggest misconception about the masonry industry?
Schmitt:
Maybe costs related to other [building systems). I once had a friend who built a house with siding, and he said, "You know what? For another buck, I would've put brick on it.' I guess that might be the one misconception.
Masonry:
What is your biggest concern in keeping your company successful?
St. Clair county courthouse, Belleville, II.
Full masonry restoration of Jersey county courthouse in Illinois
www.masoncontractors.org