Complaint Review: KAS Remodeling & Handyman Services

In 2020, Karl A. Schmiedeskamp III (a.k.a. Karlos) under the guise of his business KAS Remodeling & Handyman Services, LLC, contracted with us through email quotes to construct two decks at our home.  We hired Karlos to complete our decks because of his professional expertise and our personal relationship.  

While constructing the decks, Karlos repeatedly proffered assurances to us that the decks were being adequately built to code. Furthermore, we reasonably relied on his professional expertise with respect to his supposedly adequate construction of the decks.

We regularly used the decks for approximately three years. Karlos had personal knowledge and observations of their use, including other friends and family.

Then, on August 24, 2023, Karlos filed a complaint with the City of Bothell Code Enforcement stating, “My neighbor has built two decks without permits and I am sure they were not built to code”. This complaint reported his own defective work to the city, indicating that he had personal knowledge that his work was defective for approximately three years, putting our family and guests’ safety at risk.

Despite Karlos' knowledge that the decks were defective, both during and after construction, he concealed his defective work from us through intentional omissions and direct misrepresentations.

When we confronted Karlos about the complaint, he denied any knowledge of the same and attempted to discourage us from finding out who submitted it. Instead, Karlos and his wife allowed us to suspect it was another neighbor. 

After receiving a copy of the complaint, I hired an independent deck inspector and five separate decking companies to identify and quote remedies for Karlos' defective work. According to the inspector and the decking companies, the issues identified in the deck inspection report were “100% avoidable” because such issues are considered deck building basics every contractor should know. Given Karlos' significant professional expertise and later complaint, he certainly knew of the defective nature of his construction as he performed the work. Karlos' own complaint asserts his actual knowledge of the defective work.

The value of Karlos' work is far less than what we paid for. His work has damaged us far beyond the value of any work completed.

Over the past year, Karlos has failed to respond to any of our numerous requests to settle this matter and provide his license, bond and insurance information.  Instead, he came to our home and threatened me with physical harm in front of our guests and their children.  As a result, the court issued a protection order against him on March 11, 2024.

We and several other attorneys have been unable to find Karlos' business license, bond or insurance information.  As such, it most likely doesn't exist even though I specifically asked whether to make payments to him personally or his business, in which he texted back "biz".  According to our complaint with WA Labor and Industries, Karlos' license was suspended in 2009.

To this day, Karlos continues to operate his "business" performing work that he is neither licensed nor qualified to complete.  If you have had any work completed by Karlos in the past, we highly recommend a professional inspector review it for your own family's safety.