Des Moines is the oldest and most varied housing market we work in, and that changes what a remodel looks like here. The suburbs are mostly newer builds with finishes to upgrade. Des Moines is brick Tudors in Beaverdale, Victorians in Sherman Hill, bungalows near Drake, and larger older homes South of Grand, many of them built before open floor plans and before modern wiring and plumbing. The goal here is usually to keep the character that makes the house worth owning and update the parts that no longer fit how people live. That is a different job than the finish-driven upgrades we do out in the newer suburbs.
Elk River Contracting is a licensed Iowa contractor (license C144441) working with Des Moines homeowners on kitchens, bathrooms, basements, additions, and outdoor spaces. Founded in 2022 by husband-and-wife team Cole and Marquel Stuedemann, we are based in nearby Ankeny and work throughout the city and the metro.
Older homes come with more unknowns behind the walls, and most people just want to know someone has a plan for that. We do. We map out the scope and the schedule before the work starts, keep you in the loop as it goes, and when something unexpected turns up mid-project, you have one person to call who already knows your house.
Whether it’s a full remodel, an addition, or a custom build, we’re happy to talk through what you have in mind. Bring your goals, your questions, and a rough budget, and we’ll help you shape a plan that fits all three. The first conversation is free, and there’s no obligation to move forward. We typically respond within one business day.
In Des Moines, the age of the house drives the project, and the city covers a wide range.
The pre-war character homes are the heart of it. Beaverdale’s “Beaverdale Brick” Tudors and bungalows from the 1920s through the 1940s, the bungalows around Drake, the Craftsman homes in Highland Park. These have closed-off kitchens, small bathrooms, not enough outlets, and plaster walls. The job is opening up the layout and updating the systems without stripping out the character people bought the house for.
Sherman Hill and the older Victorian districts are a different challenge. Homes from the 1880s and 1890s, grand but chopped into small rooms, some still carrying the marks of old apartment conversions. Primary suites and modern kitchens are the common asks, and any exterior work runs through historic review.
South of Grand, Waterbury, and the Ingersoll area are larger, well-kept older homes where owners want updated kitchens and baths and finished lower levels without losing the period feel. And there are midcentury pockets, parts of the south side and around Merle Hay, with 1950s and 1960s ranches that need the same opening-up work as the older suburbs.
Across all of them, the older the house, the more matters behind the walls: wiring, plumbing, insulation, and moisture. We plan for that up front instead of discovering it mid-project.
A kitchen remodel makes cooking, cleanup, and hanging out with people in the room all feel easier. Sometimes that’s a refresh of the cabinets, counters, backsplash, and lighting. Other times the layout itself needs to change. An awkward peninsula has to go, or the fridge is sitting in a spot that turns the whole room into a traffic jam.
Most of our kitchen projects land somewhere between $40K for a cosmetic refresh and $100K+ for a full layout rebuild with custom cabinetry. We tend to spec quartz over granite for daily durability, and we’ll often pair Pella or Andersen for window swaps when those are part of the project. Both are made within driving distance, which helps lead times when supply chains get weird.
What we work on most often:
Small room, big effect on your morning. A bathroom that feels cramped, dark, or short on storage drags down the start of every day. A good remodel fixes that.
One thing worth knowing for Iowa: bathroom ventilation matters more here than in milder climates. We seal homes up tight against the cold, which is great for energy bills but rough on humidity if your fan isn’t doing its job. Most of our bathroom remodels include a vent fan upgrade, and on primary baths we usually run them through a humidistat instead of a timer.
Things people ask for most:
A primary bath usually runs $30K to $70K. A guest or hall bath lands between $15K and $30K. We’ve done full accessibility conversions on tight timelines too, including one we turned around so a homeowner could come straight home from inpatient rehab. That kind of project means schedule discipline matters, not just craftsmanship.
A finished basement is one of the best square-foot returns you’ll get without changing the footprint of the house. We’ve turned basements into family rooms, guest suites, home gyms, offices, and full entertainment setups.
What goes into a basement project:
The drywall and flooring are the easy part. What actually determines whether a basement feels comfortable year-round is moisture management, insulation, and lighting. Central Iowa clay soil holds water, and even newer homes can pick up summer humidity in the basement if the dehumidification isn’t sized right. We size dehumidifiers to the actual finished volume, check the perimeter drain situation before we frame, and use closed-cell foam on rim joists where it makes sense. None of that is glamorous. It’s the part homeowners thank us for two summers later.
A basement finish usually runs $50K to $90K, depending on whether you’re adding a bathroom, a bedroom, or a wet bar.
If two or three areas of the house all need work, it’s usually worth pulling them into one whole-home plan instead of doing them piecemeal. You avoid the awkward situation where new flooring in one room doesn’t match the trim in the next, and you make fewer decisions overall.
A whole-home plan can include:
Whole-home budgets vary too much by scope to band cleanly. We give you a real number after the walkthrough, not a guess.
Sometimes you don’t need a different house. You need more of this one. A good home addition should not look like it was stuck onto the side of the home. Rooflines, siding, windows, and the way the new space transitions into the old all matter, inside and out.
Additions also come with more permitting, more engineering, and a frost-depth footing requirement (42 inches in central Iowa) that bumps the foundation cost compared to interior work. We walk through all of that before you sign anything, so the budget you see is the budget the project actually requires. Over-garage and second-story work runs higher because of the structural demands, and three- and four-season rooms usually come in lower than a full conditioned addition. We give you a real number after the walkthrough.
The kinds of additions we build:
Neighborhoods around here are built around trails, ponds, and green space, and people actually use their yards. A real outdoor living project, not just a bigger patio, turns the back of the house into another room.
For decks, we usually default to composite (Trex or TimberTech) for the surface and pressure-treated for the structure. Composite costs more up front and disappears entirely from your maintenance list, which most homeowners decide is worth it after one or two cedar-staining seasons. Covered structures earn their keep here too. An Iowa screened porch is usable from April through October, where an open deck is more like Memorial Day to Labor Day before bugs and weather start cutting into your evenings. A covered or screened structure runs higher than an open deck, and an outdoor kitchen adds to it depending on the appliances and utilities. We size the budget to the project at the walkthrough.
What we build outside:
The growth here is not only residential, and we take on commercial remodeling and tenant improvement work too. Same approach: clear communication, organized scheduling, and as little disruption to your operation as possible. Most of our commercial work happens after hours or in phases when occupancy can’t pause. Cole’s commercial construction background shows up most here, since the documentation and coordination demands of an active retail or office space are closer to a job site than a home.
Commercial projects can include:
Remodeling involves a lot of decisions, and most homeowners just want to know what’s coming next. Here’s how we keep it organized:
Start by filling out our Contact Form and we’ll reach out by email to ask for photos of your space and any inspiration you’ve gathered. From there, we’ll set up a call with Cole, our owner, to talk through your goals and make sure we’re the right fit for your project.
Cole and Emma, our designer, will come to your home to see everything in person. We’ll walk through your space together, talk through your vision, take detailed measurements, and start outlining the scope of your project so everyone’s on the same page.
From there, you’ll come into our office to review your detailed estimate with Cole. We’ll go over the proposed scope together, answer your questions, and start exploring materials and selections so you can picture how the finished space will look and feel.
You’ll work closely with Emma, our Design Manager, to finalize every detail. From showroom visits to material selections, we’ll guide you through each decision so your choices feel confident, cohesive, and aligned with your space and your lifestyle.
Once we’ve finalized your plans and selections, our Project Manager will build your construction schedule and begin the construction process for your project. We handle every single detail and keep you updated along the way so everything stays on track.
You’ll have one project manager from start to finish. We don’t hand you off to someone new at the construction phase, and you won’t get a different answer depending on who picks up the phone. You can see recent project examples in our portfolio.
These are finished homes in Des Moines and the surrounding metro. See all our work in the full portfolio.
We work throughout the city, in the historic districts and the established neighborhoods alike. If you are not sure whether your address falls in our service area, reach out and we will let you know quickly.
Neighborhoods we work in:
We also serve the surrounding metro, including [West Des Moines], Windsor Heights, [Urbandale], [Clive], [Johnston], [Pleasant Hill], and [Ankeny].
This is usually the first thing people want to know, and we get it. Costs depend on the size of the project and the choices you make along the way, but here are honest ranges to plan around. A guest or hall bath usually runs $15K to $30K, and a primary bath $30K to $70K depending on the layout changes and finishes. Kitchens land between $40K for a cosmetic refresh and $100K or more for a full layout rebuild with custom cabinetry. A finished basement is typically $50K to $90K. Older homes can add cost when wiring or plumbing needs to come up to code along the way, which we flag in the estimate rather than after demo. Additions and outdoor projects vary more with structure and foundation work, so we walk through real numbers with you at the in-home visit instead of leaving you to guess.
Most projects do. Plumbing, electrical, structural changes, additions, decks, siding, and window or door replacement all go through the City of Des Moines Permit and Development Center, which runs applications and inspections through its online Customer Self Service portal. We file the permits and coordinate the inspections as part of the job, so you are not dealing with the city yourself.
Yes, and it is some of our favorite work. Two things matter with an older house. First, what is behind the walls. Pre-war homes often have outdated wiring, original plumbing, plaster, and little insulation, so we plan for systems updates up front instead of letting them surprise the budget. Second, if your home sits in a designated historic district like Sherman Hill, exterior changes usually need a Certificate of Appropriateness through the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. We work within those rules and build the review time into the schedule. Certified rehabilitation projects can also qualify for Iowa’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit, which is worth asking about before you start.
It depends on scope and material lead times. A bathroom is typically 4 to 8 weeks of active construction, a kitchen 8 to 14 weeks, a basement finish 10 to 16 weeks, and a home addition 4 to 6 months from permit to walkthrough. Custom cabinet lead times are usually what sets the schedule, which is why we order cabinets as soon as selections are locked in.
Usually, yes. It comes down to which rooms are involved and how big the project is. A single-bathroom home during a bath remodel is the hardest case, and a whole-house project sometimes calls for a short-term rental during the heaviest construction. We plan around your daily routine and set up dust barriers, daily clean-up, and protected pathways so the rest of the house stays livable.
Yes, and it is one of the parts homeowners tell us they appreciate most. Emma Cross, our in-house designer, works directly with you on finishes, fixtures, and layouts, so you are not left with a 200-item selection sheet and no idea where to start.
Yes. Elk River Contracting is a registered Iowa contractor, license C144441, and we carry general liability and workers’ compensation insurance. We share certificates of insurance before any contract is signed, and our electrical, plumbing, and HVAC subcontractors are licensed in their own trades.
Yes. We provide a one-year workmanship warranty on the work we complete, separate from the manufacturer warranties on materials, fixtures, and appliances. The details are written into your contract.
If you’re planning a kitchen remodel, bathroom renovation, basement finish, home addition, outdoor living project, or commercial improvement in Des Moines, Elk River Contracting can help you put together a clear plan and get the result you actually want.
