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

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.

As anyone who works in the manufacturing world will tell you, safety is of the utmost importance, and it takes a truly team effort to address any disasters that occur within a manufacturing setting.

​So when a hopper filled with plastic caught fire in the back of a two-story warehouse one day in 2013, southeast manufacturing company ALRO Plastics knew they had to find the best restoration company to work with.

Working with their trusted insurance agency, they received a direct referral to Cousino Restoration to address the fire damage, most of which included smoke that had spread throughout about 3,000 square feet of office space in the 10,000-square foot warehouse.

Cousino Restoration set out to fix the damaged area immediately, providing same-day service. Within just 10-14 days, the office area was completely cleaned and restored.