Basement Waterproofing FAQ for Des Moines, IA
Owners of homes with basements in Des Moines, IA ask about contractor rules, sewer backups, cancel rights and coverage. Each answer names the law or public office behind it, so you can check it yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are general answers, not legal or insurance advice.
Does this site do basement work or visit homes?
No. Basement Waterproofing Des Moines IA is a referral and advertising service. It practices no trade, has neither an Iowa contractor registration nor an Iowa plumbing license, and never bids or inspects. Your form goes to one independent contractor, which gets in touch and handles whatever follows. You pay nothing and receive nothing.
Does Iowa license basement waterproofing contractors?
No. Iowa has no state license for waterproofing. Instead, any business bringing in $2,000 or more a year from construction files a registration with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing (DIAL). You can search a business yourself through DIAL's Contractor Registration Public Portal, or ask at 515-242-5871. Plumbing is different: it takes a state-licensed plumber, which the Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board's license search (866-280-1521) can confirm.
Does Des Moines still have combined sewers, and where do I report a backup?
Some of the city's earliest sewer lines were laid so that rain runoff and household wastewater flowed through one pipe. Working with the WRA, the City has been taking those pipes apart since 2010, under a consent decree with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources; in May 2025 it said the final combined sewer overflow had been eliminated. Backups at Des Moines addresses are reported to Public Works on (515) 283-4950 or in the myDSMmobile app; anything life-threatening is a 911 matter.
Who looks after the sewer pipe that leaves my house?
City documents call it the private sewer service, and a City plumbing permit covers installing, changing or repairing it. Where your share of that pipe ends is a question for Public Works, so ask them. Work on it belongs to a state-licensed plumber under a plumbing permit from the Permit and Development Center, 515-283-4200. Windsor Heights, Polk City, Bondurant, Pleasant Hill and Norwalk, IA run their own sewers: ask the city that serves the address.
Can I back out of a contract I signed at my kitchen table?
You may be able to. Under Iowa's door-to-door law (Iowa Code chapter 555A), a buyer who agrees to a purchase of $25 or more away from the seller's place of business generally may cancel until midnight of the third business day afterward. Whether that reaches a visit you asked for isn't settled. Read how the contract says to cancel, do it in writing and keep a copy. For help reading a contract, the Iowa Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division answers at 888-777-4590.
Will the City help pay for a backwater valve?
At Des Moines addresses only, the City's Private Property Protection Program reimburses 100% of eligible costs, up to $1,500, for a new backwater valve, moving sump or foundation-drain water off the sanitary sewer, or unhooking roof leaders from it. You apply first with an itemized estimate and wait for a pre-approval letter; a licensed plumber with a plumbing permit then does the work, finished by June 30, 2028. Ask the Clean Water Program Office, (515) 323-8165, whether funds remain. The research found nothing similar in the five towns.
Doesn't Saylorville Lake keep basements dry?
No. Saylorville Lake is a federal reservoir north of the city that holds back the Des Moines River to ease river flooding downstream. Groundwater pressing on a wall, spring seepage at the floor joint and sewage rising through a floor drain are different problems, and a reservoir upstream does nothing about any of them.
Will my homeowners policy pay for a wet basement?
Only your policy can say. According to the Iowa Insurance Division, flood damage is commonly excluded, and protection against water or sewer backups doesn't come built into an ordinary homeowners policy. Many also leave out slow seepage. Read the wording, then put your questions to your insurer or agent. This site takes no part in insurance matters.
Why doesn't the site name the contractor?
Naming a business here would read as an endorsement, and Iowa's Consumer Fraud Act (Iowa Code § 714.16) forbids misleading advertising of services. So the contractor introduces itself when it gets in touch. Before signing anything, look up its Iowa registration, ask for insurance certificates and a few recent local customers, and get a written, itemized contract with payments due as the work moves along.
Talk It Through With a Contractor
Send the short form, and one independent contractor will get in touch to talk them over; whether anything happens after that is entirely your decision.