Our History

To understand who we are today, it’s best to understand where we started.

The Grinker Family used to own a cigar factory in Milwaukee, but as the popularity of cigars declined in the 1950’s, the factory lost business and ultimately closed. Needing to work, Sid Grinker got into the sales of construction, mostly roofing and windows. At that time it would have been easy to walk away from the debts left by the factory, but his wife Hannah Grinker wouldn’t have it. She insisted they pay back the bank and do what’s right. It took time but he did pay off the loans and provide for his family. In fact, he was quite successful, taking good care of his clients, so repeat business was common. One day, a previous customer called because she had had a fire and wondered if his team could repair her home. The work was completed, the client was happy, and the team really enjoyed the project.

At that time Sid Grinker looked into the restoration world and found there was limited competition, so in 1958 he went to the bank for a loan to start his new business. With limited experience and capital, the bank loaned him the money because he had repaid his previous debt. With that, he and a partner started the Sid Grinker Company.

Almost from the beginning, Sid’s son Loyal was involved with the company and took over when Sid passed away in 1972.  In 1993, Mike Grinker took over as the third generation to run the company.    In addition to changing the name to Sid Grinker Restoration, Inc. in order to better reflect what we do, he also expanded the water division and increased training.  The team and our space have grown substantially over the years, but we remain true to our roots committed to the city of Milwaukee and treating our team like family.

In 2018 we celebrated our 60^th anniversary and were honored to receive a mayoral proclamation as well as welcome around 300 family, friends, clients and community members to see our campus and raise a glass to an honored past and bright future.