Ferrels benefit from Thrasher 50th anniversary

FORT MADISON – A 50th anniversary celebration for a local office of a foundation restoration franchise resulted in a gift for a Fort Madison family Monday.
Eric and Lacey Ferrel, who live in the 1300 block of 30th Street in Fort Madison, received a $20,000 waterproofing upgrade to their home courtesy of Trasher Foundation Repair. The work was done on Monday by about 20 Thrasher workers, who descended on the home in about 10 company trucks and adorned in blue company t-shirts.
The Ferrels welcomed the workers with a big thank you sign and large cooler of water on their back deck.
Thrasher representative Jesse Maynard said the company is spending about a quarter of a million on improvement at eight sites across the country.
“This is our Community Day and this year is the largest one we’ve done,” he said.
“We’re in five states today doing these projects all on the same day. That’s about $250,000 going into the ground in these communities for residents and non-profits.”
Groups went online to the company’s website and filled out applications in hopes of being selected for the 100% company-donated projects.
Lacey Ferrel said she heard about the free work through a friend at church who had posted about the opportunity.
“I got on there and applied because having my basement waterproofed is something that I've always wanted,” she said. “I had gotten quotes from a different company years ago, but we knew it wasn't something we were going to be able to do. But it’s also something we never gave up on, so when we saw that, we applied and they chose us.”
She said they weren’t using the basement because of the moisture down there and mildew and mold that was part of the issue. She said that kind of presence isn’t good for her children, Ellie 7, and Easton, 4.
“We had some water in some areas in the basement that, when it rained, it would leak in,” Eric said.

Lacey said she’s excited to see how the improvement impacts the health of her family.
“We have a little room down there and the door is always closed, and if it rains, there would always be puddles. And it caused mold in there. Both the kids have eczema and allergies,  so I think that has really impacted them, so I'm also hopeful and excited to see how that changes.”
Eric and Lacey have lived in the home for the past thirteen years. The children are home schooled and Eric is currently working on getting his Commercial Drivers License through a program at SCC. He’s hoping to get a driving route that allows him to be home in the evenings.
Lacey said she had prayed for her home to be included in Thrasher's projects this year, but was very humbled when it happened.
“There's things like this that happen in communities that are just amazing and exciting,” she said.
“You know, we were kind of praying for it and I kind of believed it might happen, but at the same time, I'm sure lots of people applied from all of their different areas and we didn't know exactly how it would work. But I think they picked one group or family from each place they have a location and one thankfully was us.”
Maynard said the teams reach out locally when they are planning their community days. He said they don’t really have any specific criteria other than applicants be non-profit or private owners.
“We're just looking for someone that really needs it,” he said.
Work at the Ferrel home included waterproofing the basement, rerunning drains to a sump pump, installing water guards and a Sedona which works hard at eliminating moisture from the home.
“Then we're going to wrap the walls in a white vinyl material which no moisture can get through. We're going to paint a couple of the walls and close those up and then we're also encapsulating the crawl space, as well. So, basically the same stuff we used, we're gonna wrap it and make it moisture free and then divert any of the water that comes in down to the sump pump and get rid of it.”
Workers also will be installing some LED lighting with an assist from Mohrfeld Electric, and then did some lawn mowing and trimming to make it a full day of work.