Spray Foam Insulation in West Des Moines, IA

Spray foam insulation in West Des Moines is mostly about suburban homes from the last thirty years. Point2Homes data gives a median build year of 1994, with 19.4% of homes from 2000 to 2009 and 16.7% from 2010 to 2019. Only about 4.2% predate 1940. The city started as Valley Junction, a railroad town incorporated on October 9, 1893, and took the name West Des Moines on January 1, 1938. It had 5,615 residents in 1950 and 68,723 by 2020, according to Wikipedia.

Newer homes still leak

A house built in 2005 is tighter than one from 1925, but it is not sealed. In West Des Moines we most often see bonus rooms over three-car garages that run cold in winter and hot in summer, rim joists left bare in unfinished or partly finished basements, and attic floors with gaps around recessed lights, bath fans and the hatch. Closed-cell foam on the garage ceiling and the rim, plus sealing and topping up the attic, solves most of it.

The older streets

The few West Des Moines homes that predate 1940 have more in common with Des Moines' pre-war homes: smaller attics, open wall cavities and older foundations. Those houses get the full air sealing treatment before any new insulation.

Creeks and basements

Wikipedia notes that the Raccoon River and Walnut Creek have repeatedly flooded parts of the city, and a floodwall was built along Walnut Creek after 1993. Homes in low-lying areas near the creeks are worth checking for past water before a basement is finished, and closed-cell foam is the safer choice on those walls.

Owners and renters

About 57.4% of West Des Moines' 32,233 occupied homes are owner-occupied, and the rest rented. Townhome and condo owners can still insulate rim joists, attics they control and walls shared with garages.

A typical West Des Moines job

For a 2000s two-story with a three-car garage, the plan usually has three parts. First, closed-cell foam around the basement rim, done before the basement is finished. Second, foam on the garage ceiling under the bonus room, plus sealing where the garage wall meets the house. Third, a pass through the attic to seal around lights, fans and the hatch, then a top-up where the insulation is thin at the eaves.

Price ranges in context

HomeGuide lists rim joist foam at about $2,000 to $2,500 nationally and spray foam at $1.50 to $5.00 per square foot. Newer West Des Moines homes are usually straightforward to reach, which keeps labor down. The written estimate we give you is what you pay. Get a free estimate