Clean Joe

Clean Joe is a fire, water, mold, and mildew damage restoration and reconstruction company based in Salem, New Hampshire, with additional locations in Revere and Newton, Massachusetts, serving the Greater Boston/New England area. The company's own site traces its roots to 1983, when it started as Josef's Cleaning under founder Josef Koch Sr., growing into Josef and Sons before being rebranded Clean Joe in 2009; the site describes it as still family-run under President Kelli DeVincent. The Better Business Bureau tells a somewhat different, more recent story: it lists the current entity as started in 2012, with a change of ownership in January 2025 tied to a related company, American Restoration Operations LLC. The BBB's listed management — a CFO and CEO — don't appear on the company's own website leadership page, consistent with that 2025 change. Industry press from 2012 through 2024 had named founder Joe Koch as the face of the business at trade events and in local coverage. The reviews here are all from September 2025, after that ownership change, and are consistently positive. Two reviewers describe COO George Varelas personally responding to a sudden kitchen water leak and getting a crew out within an hour. Another calls the crew thorough and the office staff responsive and professional. The company is A+ rated and BBB-accredited, and states an IICRC certification. Given how recent the ownership change is and how few written reviews exist since then, it's worth asking directly about current staffing and how the transition has affected day-to-day service.