Local to Des Moines
Basement Remodeling Portfolio Des Moines
Our Des Moines basement remodeling portfolio is where you go before you sign anything. Photos and before-and-after sets don't lie the way a sales pitch can — they show you actual layouts, actual finishes, and actual solutions to the same problems your basement probably has: low ceilings near ductwork, a sump pit in an awkward corner, one small egress window, and a slab that's been cold and unused for years. Browse it, then use what you see to have a sharper conversation with any contractor you're considering, including us.
What makes this different from most basement finishing sites in the metro is that we pair the visuals with the numbers and the paperwork nobody wants to explain: what these rooms actually cost to build in Des Moines, how financing works if you're not paying cash, and exactly what the city and county require before a crew can touch your slab. Most competitors show you a pretty rec room and stop there. We'll show you the room, then tell you what it took to get a permit signed off on it.
What's in the basement remodel photo gallery
The gallery is organized by room type because that's how people actually search and plan — nobody wants to scroll fifty unrelated photos to find the one bathroom layout that looks like their space. Each project set includes the layout before demo, the framing and rough-in stage, and the finished space, so you can see the full arc rather than just a flattering final shot.
Basements in this market get finished into a fairly predictable set of use cases, and our project gallery covers all of them:
- Home offices — increasingly common since remote and hybrid work became permanent for a lot of Des Moines-area households
- Guest suites — a finished bedroom plus a nearby or ensuite bathroom for visiting family
- Home theaters — dedicated media rooms with tiered seating, blackout treatments, and sound isolation
- Home gyms — rubber-floored workout spaces, sometimes combined with a half bath or shower
- Wet bars — entertaining spaces built around a bar top, beverage fridge, and sink rough-in
- Bathrooms — full or half baths added to a previously unfinished basement
- Rec rooms — the open, flexible living space that anchors most basement finishes
Most of the basements we finish combine two or three of these in one project — a rec room with a bar along one wall, a guest suite with its own bathroom, a home gym next to a half bath for post-workout cleanup. Seeing how other homeowners combined spaces in a basement your size is often more useful than any single room photo on its own.
Basement finishing before and after, room by room
Home office basements
The before shots in this category almost always look the same: bare studs or block, a folding table, exposed conduit. The after shots show what a real working office looks like below grade — task lighting layered in because basements don't get natural light, wall-mounted cable management so a desk doesn't sit on top of a rat's nest of cords, and sound-dampening details (carpet, acoustic panels, solid-core doors) so a work call doesn't pick up the furnace cycling or footsteps overhead. If you're weighing a basement office against converting a spare bedroom, our basement home office page walks through layout options and what separates a corner desk nook from a true closed-door office.
Guest suite basements
Guest suite before-and-afters are the most dramatic transformations in the whole portfolio, because they usually start as pure storage — holiday decorations, old furniture, boxes nobody's opened in years. The after photos show a bedroom with a proper egress window (required by code, not optional), a closet, and in most cases an adjacent or ensuite bathroom. The guest suite planning page covers the egress requirement in more detail, since it's the single biggest driver of whether a basement bedroom is even legal to advertise as a bedroom.
Home theater basements
Theater rooms photograph well, but the before-and-after that matters most here is acoustic, not visual — you can't see soundproofing in a photo, only infer it from the build notes attached to each project. Our theater sets typically show staggered-stud or resilient-channel walls going up before drywall, tiered platform framing, and the conduit runs for surround sound before insulation covers them. If a dedicated theater is on your list, the basement theater page has more on speaker placement, screen sizing for typical basement ceiling heights, and light control.
Home gym basements
Gym conversions in the gallery usually pair a rubber-tiled or foam-floored open area with mirrors, a mounted TV or speaker system, and sometimes a rough-in for a half bath or shower. The before photos in this category are often the ones with the lowest ceilings in the portfolio, because gym equipment forces a hard conversation about ceiling clearance early — a squat rack or pull-up bar needs real headroom. See the basement gym page for how we handle ceiling height and flooring choices for equipment weight.
Wet bar basements
Bar builds are where plumbing and electrical work is most visible in the before shots — you'll see copper or PEX stubbed up through the slab for a sink, and a dedicated circuit for a beverage fridge or ice maker. The after photos show everything from a simple bar-top-and-shelving setup to a full wet bar with a dishwasher drawer. The basement bar page breaks down what "wet" versus "dry" bar actually costs to build, since that plumbing rough-in is the line item people underestimate most.
Bathroom basements
Basement bathrooms are their own category because the before condition almost always includes a decision point most homeowners don't know exists until we're standing in the basement with them: whether the toilet can drain by gravity to the existing sewer line, or whether it needs an up-flush (macerating) system because the basement floor sits below the sewer line's elevation. Both show up in the gallery, and both are legitimate solutions — they just cost differently. The basement bathroom page explains the gravity-versus-up-flush decision in plain terms.
Rec room basements
Rec rooms are the most common single project in the portfolio, and the before-and-afters vary the most — some start as a single open unfinished slab, others as a basement that already has a rough, dated finish from decades ago that needs to be gutted first. The after shots typically show open living space with durable flooring (LVP is the most common choice we see specified), recessed lighting, and often a half-wall or built-in that defines a secondary zone without fully closing it off. The rec room page has more on layout options for open versus zoned rec spaces.
How the process works, from consult to finished basement
Every project in the portfolio went through the same five stages. Knowing what happens at each one helps you read the before-and-after photos correctly — the "before" photo isn't the starting point of the project, it's already the result of a design decision.
1. Consult
A walk-through of your actual basement: ceiling height at the lowest point (usually where ductwork runs), location of the sump pump and electrical panel, existing moisture signs, window locations for egress, and what you actually want the space to do. This is also where we flag anything that could affect permitting before you fall in love with a layout that won't pass inspection.
2. Design
Your wish list gets turned into an actual floor plan — wall locations, door swings, where the bathroom plumbing needs to tie in, where framing has to work around existing posts or ductwork. This is the stage where "guest suite with ensuite bath" becomes a scaled drawing you can react to before any lumber is ordered.
3. Proposal
A written, line-itemized scope and price — not a single lump-sum number. You should be able to see what framing costs, what the bathroom rough-in costs, what electrical and HVAC extensions cost, and what finishes cost, separately. That itemization is also what makes change orders honest later, because you can see exactly what's changing and why the price moves.
4. Selections
Flooring, paint, trim, lighting fixtures, cabinetry or bar finishes, tile if there's a bathroom — all chosen before construction starts, not decided on the fly mid-project. Basements have specific material constraints (below-grade moisture rules out some flooring types, for instance) so selections here are guided, not just a catalog handed to you.
5. Construction
Framing, rough-in inspections (electrical, plumbing, mechanical), insulation, drywall, finish carpentry, flooring, paint, and fixtures, in that order, with required inspections at each rough-in stage before it gets closed up behind drywall. The portfolio's "during" photos are almost always taken at these inspection points, because that's when the guts of the room are visible.
Licensing, insurance, and permit handling in Des Moines
Every project shown in this portfolio was built under permit, with licensed trades handling electrical and plumbing work and general liability insurance covering the job. That's not a differentiator — it should be the baseline for any contractor you hire — but it's worth stating plainly because unlicensed basement work is common enough in this market that it's a real risk to screen for. If a contractor can't produce proof of insurance or won't pull a permit, that's disqualifying, regardless of how good their photos look.
Permit handling is where most basement finishing sites go vague, so here's what's actually involved for a basement finish in Des Moines and the surrounding cities we work in:
- Building permit — required for finishing a basement because you're adding habitable space, framing new walls, and typically adding electrical circuits
- Electrical permit — required for new circuits, outlets, and fixtures; inspected before drywall closes the walls
- Plumbing permit — required any time you're adding a bathroom, wet bar sink, or laundry rough-in
- Mechanical permit — required if HVAC ductwork is extended or modified to condition the new space
- Egress window verification — any room used as a bedroom needs a code-compliant egress window; inspectors check this specifically for basement bedrooms and guest suites
One requirement that surprises a lot of homeowners: radon mitigation. Iowa has some of the highest average indoor radon levels in the country, and it's a real, code-relevant consideration when you're converting a basement into living space people will spend hours a day in — not an optional add-on. We test for it and factor mitigation into the plan when a project calls for it, rather than treating it as an afterthought discovered after the room is already finished. It's one of the permit and code items competitors in this market routinely leave off their sites, and it's exactly the kind of thing you want handled before drywall goes up, not after.
We handle permit applications and inspection scheduling as part of the project rather than leaving it to the homeowner to navigate the city's process solo. That includes coordinating inspection timing so rough-in work isn't sitting exposed longer than it needs to be, and making sure final inspection and sign-off happens before we call a project done.
Service area: where these projects were built
The portfolio spans Des Moines proper and the surrounding communities we regularly work in, including West Des Moines, Ankeny, Waukee, and Johnston. Basement construction — foundation type, typical ceiling heights, common moisture patterns — is fairly consistent across this metro area, since most homes were built under similar soil and climate conditions, but permitting can vary slightly by city, and we handle that jurisdiction-specific paperwork wherever the project sits rather than applying a one-size-fits-all process.
Planning considerations before you convert a basement
Before a basement becomes any of the rooms shown in the gallery, a handful of conditions determine what's realistic and what it will cost. These are the things worth walking through with any contractor before design work starts:
Ceiling height
Most Des Moines-area basements were poured with mechanical clearance in mind, not finished-room clearance. Ductwork, plumbing drain lines, and electrical runs often hang below the joists, and any of them may need to be relocated or boxed in to get usable headroom in the right spots — especially in gym or theater rooms where equipment or platform framing eats into that clearance further.
Moisture and drainage
A basement that's ever had water intrusion needs that addressed before framing goes up — finishing over an unresolved moisture problem just hides it behind drywall until it's a much bigger repair. Sump pump condition, grading outside the foundation, and any history of seepage all get evaluated during the consult.
Egress requirements
Any basement room intended as a bedroom — including guest suites — needs an egress window meeting minimum size and sill-height requirements. If your basement doesn't already have a window that qualifies, adding one is a significant scope item (cutting the foundation wall) that needs to be priced and planned for up front, not discovered during a permit review.
Radon
As noted above, radon testing and, where needed, mitigation should be part of the plan for any basement being converted to living space, given how common elevated radon levels are in Iowa homes.
Existing mechanicals and structural posts
Furnaces, water heaters, electrical panels, and structural support posts generally can't move without significant cost, so the design phase works around them — sometimes that means a furnace closet built into a rec room layout, or a support post incorporated into a bar or half-wall rather than hidden.
How the space will actually be used long-term
A rec room that might become a guest suite later is designed differently from day one — plumbing stubbed for a future bathroom, framing that allows for a closet to be added, an egress window sized for a bedroom even if the room opens as a media space initially. It's worth thinking two or three years out, not just about the room's first use.
What affects the cost of a basement finish
Pricing transparency is something few basement finishing companies in this market actually publish, so here's what genuinely moves the number on a project, in rough order of impact:
- Bathrooms — the single biggest cost driver per square foot in the whole project, because of plumbing rough-in, waterproofing, and fixtures; a gravity-drain layout is typically less expensive than an up-flush system
- Wet bar plumbing — adding a sink or beverage line means running new plumbing, which costs more than a "dry" bar with just cabinetry and a fridge
- Egress window additions — cutting a new or larger window opening into the foundation is a structural task, not a cosmetic one
- HVAC extension — running or extending ductwork to properly heat and cool the new space, especially for larger open rec rooms or a fully separate guest suite
- Ceiling height solutions — relocating ductwork or plumbing to gain headroom adds labor beyond standard framing
- Radon mitigation — when testing shows it's needed, a mitigation system is an added line item
- Flooring and finish level — LVP versus carpet versus tile, stock versus custom cabinetry in a bar, standard versus theater-grade lighting and sound treatment
- Electrical scope — number of new circuits, recessed lighting layout, dedicated circuits for a home theater or gym equipment
Because most of these are visible in the "before" and "during" photos in the gallery — you can literally see whether a project involved a new egress window cut or a bathroom rough-in — the portfolio doubles as a rough cost-driver reference: projects with more of these elements cost more, and you can see which elements your own basement will or won't need.
We also work with financing options for homeowners who'd rather spread a basement finish over monthly payments than pay the full project cost upfront. That's worth asking about early in the consult, since it can change what scope makes sense to do now versus phase in later.
Why work with a local Des Moines basement finisher
Basement finishing is one of the most locally-conditioned renovation categories there is. Foundation styles, frost depth, typical soil moisture, and city-by-city permitting differences all shape what a "standard" basement finish actually requires here versus somewhere else. A crew that works basements across Des Moines, West Des Moines, Ankeny, Waukee, and Johnston day in and day out already knows which inspectors want what documented, what ceiling heights are typical for which decades of home construction in the area, and how to sequence radon testing into a project without it becoming a late surprise. That local repetition is what the photo gallery represents — not one-off projects, but a consistent, permitted process applied across a lot of similar basements.
Frequently asked questions
Yes — that's the point of browsing the portfolio by room type above. Start with whichever room matches what you're picturing (a rec room, a guest suite, and so on), and use the before-and-after sequence to gauge what's realistic for a basement with a similar starting condition to yours.
The gallery is organized to show the arc of each project — the raw basement, the framing and rough-in stage, and the finished room — specifically so you can evaluate the work at the stages that actually reveal quality, not just the styled final photo.
Yes. Finishing a basement adds habitable space and typically involves new framing, electrical, and sometimes plumbing, all of which require permits and inspections in Des Moines and the surrounding cities. Any contractor proposing to skip that step is proposing something that will cause problems if you ever sell the house or file an insurance claim.
It depends on your test results, but it's not something to skip evaluating. Iowa has notably high indoor radon levels statewide, and converting a basement into space people occupy regularly is exactly the scenario where testing and, if needed, mitigation matters most. We build that evaluation into the planning stage rather than treating it as optional.
A rec room is open living space with no bedroom-specific code requirements. A guest suite that includes a bedroom needs a code-compliant egress window and, if there's an attached bathroom, a full plumbing rough-in — both of which add cost and, in the case of a new egress window, structural work to cut the foundation opening.
Yes — the portfolio includes projects across West Des Moines, Ankeny, Waukee, and Johnston in addition to Des Moines itself. Permit requirements are handled per city, since they're not identical everywhere in the metro.
See the portfolio, then get a real number
Photos and before-and-afters answer "what's possible." A consult answers "what's possible in your basement, for what price." If a room type above matches what you're picturing — office, guest suite, theater, gym, bar, bathroom, or rec room — start on that room's page for layout-specific detail, or head back to the homepage for an overview of how we work across the Des Moines metro. When you're ready to talk specifics, reach out for a consult and we'll walk your actual basement, flag anything that affects permitting or radon testing up front, and put together an itemized proposal — not a vague ballpark — so you know what you're deciding on before any wall goes up.