Contractor of 2023: Trisco Systems

Walls & Ceilings has selected its Contractor of 2023 — Ohio-based Trisco Systems Inc.

A panel consisting of W&C’s publisher, editorial staff and editorial advisory board chose this year’s winner. The goal of the award is to honor a contractor that employs the best industry practices, provides a good working atmosphere for employees and excels at both quality workmanship and customer service.

Walls & Ceilings Contractor of 2023: Trisco Systems

“The company, through our unique and diversified talents, provides a spectrum of professional specialty services for the restoration and renovation of existing structures,” Trisco’s mission statement says. “We are dedicated to providing these services with technical expertise and the highest standards of integrity. Our commitment is to maintain our reputation of leadership in the industry while providing superior value, thereby establishing long-term customer relationships and company profitability. We not only view ourselves as professionals but are regarded as such by our customers and the industry.”

The magazine congratulates Trisco Systems for this award. We believe the company is as progressive and quality-minded as any firm is.

About the Company

The company, based in Lima, Ohio, specializes in exterior building restoration, façade restoration and rejuvenation. Its EIFS work is 100 percent focused on the repair, maintenance and corrective measures to add service life and/or eliminate deficiencies within these systems.

Trisco Systems has been around for 87 years and both Steven and Brian Walter are part of the third generation to run the company, so they both grew up in and around the business.

“We started off working in the warehouse, driving trucks and then working on the crews,” says Steven Walter, one of the co-owners. “After graduating from college and spending a few years working elsewhere, we [he and Brian Walter] both came back into the company.”

“Our field technicians have specialized training in water infiltration techniques, which is a natural adaptation to EIFS,” Brian says. “Our belief is that regardless of the type of building façade, the time and effort spent on flashing systems, moisture control and evacuation is critical to the success of the building envelope.”

“Our first real deep dive into EIFS restoration and repair occurred back in the ’80s when we installed a 60,000-square-foot system that had a terrible material failure,” Steven says. “We were stuck with an extended warranty, thus had to ‘babysit’ that system for several years. It is through this initial experience that we learned the critical failure points and how to effectively repair EIFS. We then parlayed this experience into our business model. That original project was successfully repaired with a unique overclad system that is still functioning very well over 35 years later.”

The company is a member of the Sealant and Waterproofing Institute, the International Concrete Repair Institute, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, EIMA and Associated General Contractors.

The company’s area of specialty has always been in the restoration of all types of building envelopes and facades. Its restoration expertise is not only related to EIFS but also includes masonry, concrete, terra cotta and virtually any other building façade component.

“We are experienced in sealants, coating systems and historic restoration,” Steven says. “We also are experienced in the restoration of stadiums, parking garages, plazas and water treatment plants.

“We are a traveling company and our employees travel with us, thus allowing us to maintain our quality control and efficiency even though we may be hundreds of miles away,” Steven continues. “We work throughout the Midwest and a number of our good customers have used our services across the country.”

The company is seasonal and averages between 100 and 150 employees.

Growth

The company has been extremely fortunate with the controlled growth of its business over the years. It continues to see increasing opportunities in EIFS restoration as well as with the implementation of innovative technologies and systems.

“We are blessed with another busy season with work that will take us into and through 2024,” Brian says.

“We face the same labor and material issues that are affecting all construction trades,” Steven says. “We have been proactive with securing good talent and volume purchasing, which is helping us through these strange times.”

The company remains strong and agile so that it can adapt to different stressors as well as new opportunities that will help shape who it is in the future.

“The most interesting part of what we do is that there are no two buildings that are alike,” Steven says. “You can have two identical buildings across the street from each other and they can have completely different issues or problems. This keeps our business interesting because you are always looking at new opportunities or unique corrective actions. Our projects can last two weeks or two years, so with over 25 crews, we are always moving at a fast pace.”

“The uniqueness of the restoration business is that the location of the building and its surrounding environment can drastically change the repair solution for that building,” Brian says. “The solution could be different if it is in another part of the country. We see this with our relationships with association friends that have similar companies across the country, and we have debated this quite often.

“The same uniqueness of our business makes it difficult to explain to others our processes and techniques required to address their specific needs,” Brian adds. “The problem is that there are really no written directions to repair a given building. There are guidelines, but these guidelines are often tweaked or modified to be able to adapt to these common variables.”

“We are third-generation owners of the company and we hope that we have served it well, and our goal is to position it for an even better future,” Steven says. “We also hope that we have kept the spirit and the vision that our grandfather had when he started the company, and our goal is to instill this same perspective into the next generation.”

Brian says the company has had numerous customers go out of their way to compliment the subcontractor’s professionalism, attention to detail, quality of work, courtesy of its field technicians and, repeat, professionalism. Couple all of that with its 87 years of successful history, capabilities and staff, and the company says it feels it must be in that top tier of contractors nationally.

“The most important thing is to be financially sound and fiscally responsible,” Steven says. “This helps provide a sound foundation to weather tough times, keep our people, not buy bad work and be nimble enough to be able to change course with our talented people. We started this process right after the last downturn.”

“Multiple local and national safety awards and our impeccable safety record sets us apart,” Brian says. “We work in a dangerous industry, and we drill safety into each and every one of us from the top down. We make a promise to our guys that we will do everything in our power to try and keep them safe so that they can return home safely each week.”

Project Profile: MetroCenter

Owner/Developer: Pursuit III from Lima, Ohio
Architect: Sandvick Architects from Cleveland
Construction Manager and GC: Trisco Construction Services from Lima, Ohio
Interior General Contractor: JERA Contractors from Cleveland

MetroCenter of Lima is a mixed-use development project with high-end, loft-style apartments on floors two through five and commercial tenants on the first floor.

The structure was originally built in the 1930s as an apartment building and then was converted into a bank in the ’60s, with multiple offices on each floor. The bank moved out in the ’90s, and Trisco Systems bought the building in 2001.

It remained empty until Trisco decided to convert it to loft-style apartments in 2020. Trisco gutted the entire building, wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling. The company kept as much of the historical fabric as possible, and it was exciting when workers discovered original historical detail beneath the finishes that were put in place in the ’70s.

“As the owner and developer of the building and with our experience in restoration and renovation, Trisco was the construction manager for the entire project,” Steven says. “We then used our own forces to do all the structural rehabilitation and repairs, the masonry restoration, terra cotta restoration, EIFS restoration, the addition of architectural detailing using EIFS elements, new EIFS installation, new wall construction using Dryvit’s NewBrick faux masonry units, all exterior painting and sealants, and creating new openings for the doors and the new balconies.”

The design elements for the ceilings throughout the main body of the building are exposed concrete joist and beam construction that were repaired and painted. In the main entrance, upon demolition of the old lay-in ceiling, Trisco discovered decorative plaster walls and ceilings that it restored and painted back to their original detail and features.

The walls were masonry that had been plastered over years ago. The company discovered these beneath the furred-out framing and drywall. Trisco removed all the wall framing, exposed the brick where the plaster was loose and then refinished and painted the remaining plaster. This left each apartment with a unique wall feature that is different from its neighbors.

“We created an outdoor community patio space and numerous private patios by building new walls that were clad with new EIFS and Dryvit’s NewBrick system,” Brian says. “We matched the new faux brick to the painted brick on the original main building.”

The company used Dryvit products for the new EIFS and its NewBrick system. Sherwin-Williams products were used for plaster repairs, interior painting and exterior painting. Trisco used a local vendor to cut foam shapes and finished them with Dryvit products to make decorative trim elements such as belts and sills.

Steven says the Dryvit NewBrick system created an excellent new masonry effect that no one can tell is not real brick. It was an excellent choice because Trisco built the new walls on an existing rooftop and since it was a lightweight system, they did not have to build any additional support systems.