Polk County and surrounding areas
- West Des Moines, newer building west of the river, mostly engineered plank with a lot of LVP in finished basements
- Ankeny, the fastest-growing suburb in the metro, which means subfloor prep matters more here than sanding
- Urbandale, 1960s ranches with oak strip under the carpet, and newer building north of Hickman
- Waukee, almost entirely post-2000, so engineered over slab and basement moisture questions
- Johnston, split between older Beaver Drive housing and new development, and the two need different floors
- Clive, 1970s and 80s two-storeys, usually red oak under three decades of finish
- Altoona, an older core with genuine 1920s oak and newer edges out toward the interstate
- Norwalk, fast new growth south of the metro, mostly slab-on-grade
- Grimes, new construction almost throughout, so the questions here are product rather than repair
- Pleasant Hill, 1970s onward with basements throughout, so a moisture reading comes first
- Windsor Heights, small, old, and almost entirely 1940s and 50s oak strip worth saving
- Indianola, a college town with genuinely old housing stock and floors still under carpet
- Bondurant, one of the newest towns in the metro and still growing fast
- Polk City, lake housing north of Saylorville, much of it seasonal use with wide humidity swings
- Carlisle, older small-town stock to the south-east, mostly narrow oak strip
- Adel, a historic square and 19th-century houses, the oldest floors in the metro
- Huxley, the new-build corridor along Highway 69
- Granger, small and on the rural edge, with older farmhouses and some wide-plank pine
- Van Meter, rural west of the metro, older houses and outbuildings
- Dallas Center, a small historic core with original floors still in place
- Mitchellville, an older east-metro small town
- Slater, the north edge of the metro, old housing stock
- Elkhart, small, north of Ankeny, and mostly older
- Alleman, rural north of the metro, farmhouse floors
- Cumming, rapid new development to the south-west
- Berwick, a small unincorporated area north-east of Des Moines
- Beaverdale, the Beaverdale brick bungalows, 1920s and 30s red oak strip, almost always worth saving
- Sherman Hill, Victorian and turn-of-the-century houses with the oldest and most delicate floors in the city
- Drake Neighborhood, student rentals over original oak, usually neglected rather than damaged
- South of Grand, the largest concentration of 1910s to 1930s quarter-sawn oak in Des Moines
- Waveland Park, 1920s bungalows with narrow strip oak under the carpet
- Merle Hay, post-war ranches, 2¼ inch oak, often with one sand left in them
- Highland Park, older north-side stock in mixed condition
- East Village, converted lofts and rehabbed older buildings
- Ingersoll Park, 1920s two-storeys along the Ingersoll corridor
- River Bend, some of the oldest surviving housing in the city
Not on the list?
Call (515) 500-2445 anyway. If you are near the edge of this map we will usually still
come out, and we will tell you honestly on the phone if you are not.