What’s a homeowner’s #1 fear?
​
Well, that happened one day in Ottawa Lake, Michigan, when an exterior fire caused smoke and soot to infiltrate homeowner Dale Schroyer’s house.

Because of its unique architectural design, including custom plaster and other intricacies inside the home, Cousino Restoration completed their work with the utmost care and detail so that the original design was retained.  They rebuilt the deck out of railroad ties and then custom rebuilt, sealed, and cleaned the entire structure.

On August 8, 2014, in Westerville, Ohio, a home caught on fire, leading to extensive damage.  After being called through Disaster Kleenup International (DKI), Cousino Restoration went onsite two days after the fire department had put the fire out.
​
Brian from the Cousino Restoration team set to work with his crew of 10-12 workers to mitigate the damage by:

• Gutting the basement
• Completing a first-floor inspection
• Replacing the kitchen ceiling
• Washing the walls
• Performing structural cleaning (removing the attic insulation and cleaning the studs)
• Packing up the entire house’s contents

After a thunderstorm hit Bexley, Ohio, on July 13, 2013, a tree from one resident’s yard fell on the house of their neighbor. The result was damage to the chimney and the lower portion over the home where the homeowner sat reading a newspaper. While the homeowner was thankfully unscathed, their property was not.

Branches fell into the room, and rain started pouring down into different parts of the house that were exposed to the elements. The drywall and hardwoods were soon wet.

The homeowner called their insurance adjuster, who then turned to Cousino Restoration for help. Cousino Restoration was there within an hour and removed the tree the next morning while the storm was still going on.

Through this referral, the Bexley homeowner received the help they needed. Their chimney was completely rebuilt from the roof up, the entire roof was replaced, and they resided the whole back of the house. They also redid 1/3 of the lower level ceiling and the entire hardwood floor. Lastly, they re-framed the wall on the second level of the home.

​After four months, the homeowner’s house was completely restored.

When a line in a water heater broke at Faith Baptist Church in Ottawa, Ohio, the whole structure was affected as water flooded the entire building. Cousino Restoration was called to assist, and a team of four were dispatched that night for emergency services.
​
After working throughout the entire evening and the following day, they dried out the church so everything was back to normal in just a few weeks!

Mold can be one of the biggest fears—and epidemics—in the education system.  In September of 2015, the Elida Middle School in Elida, Ohio, experienced a mold problem that needed to be resolved immediately.
​
Their restoration partner, Cousino Restoration, ordered an air test, completed the testing and performed cleanup services without disrupting the school’s operations.

Ron Miller of Grand Rapids, Ohio, has one of the most architecturally unique homes in his town.  Designed in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright, his home is made of entirely of stones, stacked and mortared, and sits near the Maumee River.

So when his wood cedar shake shingles caught fire one day, he knew he would have to turn to an experienced and trustworthy restoration company with an eye for detail and aim for precision.

Cousino Restoration was called to the scene and arrived at his home that evening.  They boarded up the home, tarped the roof—which had been burnt through entirely—and assessed the damage.  Afterwards, they completed cleanup processes in the interior of the home.

Working with a team of 10 people, Cousino Restoration provided new cedar shake roofing for Ron’s home and customized trusses for the roof structure.  In the inside of this unique home, they painted the entire interior, working painstakingly and meticulously due to the field-stone-constructed walls of the house.

After six months of restoration and construction, Ron’s house returned to being the shining jewel it had been in Grand Rapids.

Several years ago, a roofing contractor was working on the manufacturing facility of a Campbells Soup factory in Northwest Ohio when a small fire started in the canning department. The sealing joints near the roof access soon caught on fire, creating a lot of soot.

Since their assets were at stake, this factory needed restoration services immediately. Cousino Restoration was called and worked around the clock. Cousino set up scaffolding, cleaned the products, machinery and the structure itself.  To avoid cross-contamination, Cousino set up cells around each piece of equipment.
50 people were onsite the entire time, working in 12-hour shifts for four days.
​
After a week, everything was cleaned and the $150,000 job was completed successfully. Campbells Soup went back to business as usual.

When fires occur in historical buildings, the restoration process itself can be a whole different ballgame. Building codes, historical artwork and furnishings, preservation—the most extreme care and attention to detail is needed to restore historic properties back to normal…or even better than before.

​Challenge
​In early June 2016, a fire broke out at the popular PerrysBurgers restaurant in downtown Perrysburg, Ohio.  Located in the historic district, in a building that was at least 100 years old (or more), PerrysBurgers is known to locals as the best place in town to go for “Uncommon Burgers & Unending Fries.”
The fire started downstairs in the storage room and was contained there, but the damage was more extensive—an estimated $100,000 to the restaurant and the vacant upstairs apartment per WTOL 11.

Solution & Results
Cousino Restoration was called to the scene to serve as the lead on PerrysBurgers’s restoration and emergency response.  “Our goal was to save the integrity of the whole building,” stated Cousino Restoration Project Manager, Keith Tammarine.  And that’s what they did.

Working together with the owner, Tammarine and his crew not only restored the building but also:
​
1) Upgraded all of their systems (plumbing, heating, etc.)

• Before the fire, many of the systems themselves were outdated—even original.
• Cousino Restoration helped to “upgrade everything from the crawl space up” including new furnaces and new electrical systems, said Tammarin

2) Uncovered and preserved old works and structures (like a wall that hadn’t been exposed in over 100 years)
​
3) Vastly increased the real estate value of the upstairs apartment, which is owned by the PerrysBurgers owner

• Before, the owner had just rented out this apartment (which was empty during the fire) to tenants.
• Tammarine and his team completed gutted and redid the apartment, adding an LED fireplace, a laundry room, and other details so that by the time the project was completed, the property’s worth itself had skyrocketed.

Chances are, even if you’re not from the Toledo area, you’ve heard of Tony Packo’s.  A local staple since the 1930s, this Hungarian restaurant, known for its hot dogs, pickles, and peppers, was made world-famous by actor Jamie Farr in the TV show M*A*S*H.

But fame can’t prevent accidents. And in the restaurant world, when an accident occurs, you need a trusted partner who will work with you and restore your building back to normal as soon as possible.

That’s why Tony Packo’s turned to Cousino Restoration early one morning when a semi-truck suddenly went through the main restaurant building and into the bar/dining area.

Cousino Restoration went to work immediately, shoring up the building while the truck was removed—and doing so in a matter so that the second floor did not collapse.  The only day that Tony Packo’s could not stay open was the day of the accident.

But there were other major concerns involved in this accident—one especially being pedestrian traffic for customers entering and exiting the building.  There was an extensive amount of work involving scaffolding, materials, and manpower, but Cousino Restoration worked quickly and safely, and all went well without any incidents.

Overall, careful attention was paid to restoring the building back to the original historical detail. Work was done in record time, and the restaurant was kept open every single day afterwards. The entire project was completed without a glitch.

The night before the first day of school one semester at the University of Toledo, a boiler line broke in University Hall, the famous collegiate Gothic building which dominates the main campus.  Five floors were majorly affected by the break, and the university staff knew they had to get this issue resolved quickly.

Cousino Restoration Project Manager Tom Peternel received a call from the university at 9:00 pm the night of the accident.  He and his team of 18-20 people worked through the night on this mitigation project to get the admissions and administration offices up and running in time for class. All of the Cousino Restoration staff stayed on site until 9:00 am the following day.
​
This story is just one in many successes Cousino Restoration has had with the University of Toledo.  In the past 10 years, for example, Tom Peternel specifically has completed 20 projects with this university including several residence and academic halls.  Cousino Restoration prides itself on its relationships with major local institutions like the University of Toledo, built on shared trust and experience.