Our lives are the sum of our memories
My class of 2000 Senior Gag awards were definitely colorful… My parents weren’t too proud at the time, but I was: Class Clown, Most Energetic, Best Sense of Humor, Best Friends, and Craziest. It was safe to say that not only did everybody know me, but I had a reserved seat in the In School Suspension room. At that time in my life entertaining my classmates was more intriguing to me than actual school work. About half way through my senior year my best friend at the time asked if I would join the ARMY with him in the buddy program, which is another story for another time. After Boot Camp you go to “Advanced Individual Training” where you learn your specific job. For the first time in my life I actually applied myself and wouldn’t you know it… I graduated as the Honor Grad! My time spent in the ARMY helped shape my life to this day, especially during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Well, I say that to say this: Our lives are the sum of our memories. Wherever you are in life’s journey, if your memory was erased today so would your identity. Today I sit here as a happily married Father of two amazing boys. Now most of my memories are created at home. About a year ago our family moved outside of the city to an acre wooded property just outside of Hybernia Park. We love our new home and the stillness of the country. My wife is finally able to entertain the way she always wanted to. Our new home is our whole families’ new memory maker. The serenity of a sound home is such a vital part of an enriched life. At the end of whatever chaos the world throws at you, there is nothing like turning that all off and walking into a home filled with the sound of boys running around, a dog greeting you, and kissing your best friend.
Unfortunately, Chester County is one of the worst areas in America for failing Stucco homes built within the last 25-30 years. This plague has devastated too many families to count. There are multiple failure points that are common among stucco homes such as; missing kick out diverters at roof-wall intersections, lack of expansion joints, incorrectly set/flashed windows and doors, improper building envelope, stucco terminated below grade, the list goes on… With a previous employer I came across an amazing couple that were both retired CIA agents. They were the nicest people that you could meet. They lived in a development of high end 5k+ square foot homes. At their homes tender age of about 6 years old, they noticed water intrusion in a few areas. Meanwhile, on the other side of this development, there was a stucco contractor doing patch work on another stucco home that was failing. The retired CIA couple had that stucco contractor patch the failing areas for a total cost of $38,000.00. Seems steep, but there was a lot of work to do. Well, let’s fast forward six weeks. Uh-oh… It seems that the same areas that were “patched” are freshly wet. That’s not good.
Here is where I came in with my previous employer. I met with the home owners and performed my presentation. We went over the proper methods to fix this problem for good with a total tear off remediation. During this six figure project as our demo guys removed the stucco in the patched area, I had to stop them to show the home owner what we discovered. The previous contractor who performed the “patchwork” left rotten studs in the wall and just sandwiched them with new studs before covering them up! My heart sank. I felt so bad for these sweet people that just wasted almost $40,000 on a contractor that was doing work in the development… That motivated me to be in the position that I am in now. I am a Building Moisture Management Consultant. If there is a stucco home owner out there that suspects their stucco to be failing; I am the first step they should seek. My personal mission is to educate stucco home owners on what causes failures, what the proper fix is, and how to qualify an inspector and contractor. If I would have had the opportunity to have a sit down with Mr. and Mrs. CIA I could have saved them somebodies salary! Well, what’s done is done. I can only do my best to get the word of my services out so no more stucco home owners waste any money on an uneducated decision. This is a memory that motivates me every day…
Joe Yurick