Areas served · Iowa
Forensic Engineering in Des Moines
In and around Des Moines
What we investigate in Des Moines
Water and frost drive most of the structural losses we investigate in Des Moines. The two rivers that meet downtown flood on a hard schedule, and deep central-Iowa frost works foundations under some of the oldest housing stock in the country. We document what actually failed, with no travel charges, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
The conditions we see in Des Moines
Des Moines sits at the confluence of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers, and its flood history is severe. When the Raccoon overwhelmed the Des Moines Water Works treatment plant in July 1993, roughly 250,000 people lost running water for close to two weeks. Flood water leaves structural evidence in foundations, framing, and finishes long after it recedes, and separating flood damage from a pre-existing condition is what an insurer or attorney needs settled.
The building stock adds its own signal. Des Moines carries a large share of pre-1940 housing, concentrated in districts like Sherman Hill in Victorian, Colonial Revival, and Prairie School construction. Much of it stands on masonry basement walls that take the region's deep frost and hydrostatic pressure, and knob-and-tube and early undersized wiring still runs behind the plaster. Newer metro construction rests on the Des Moines Lobe glacial till, which brings its own settlement behavior.
How we help in Des Moines
The evaluations Des Moines cases usually call for
- Foundation, frost, and masonry evaluation
When a basement wall bows or a footing cracks in Des Moines, the cause can be deep frost, hydrostatic pressure against old masonry, flood saturation, or a construction defect. Our licensed engineers evaluate the structure and the ground together, account for the age of the historic housing, and document which one is responsible.
Our structural engineering services- Flood and water loss investigation
After the Des Moines or Raccoon River drives water inside, we determine what it did to the structure and whether the damage traces to the flood, to a pre-existing condition, or to a defect. We also investigate the construction failures that surface afterward, each conclusion grounded in the physical evidence.
Our forensic engineering services- Hail and storm damage
We evaluate hail and wind damage across Des Moines, separating fresh storm damage from wear, prior repairs, and conditions that predated the storm.
Our hail damage services in Des Moines
Fire origin & cause
Fire origin and cause in Des Moines
Much of Des Moines fire risk lives behind the walls of its pre-1940 housing, where knob-and-tube runs, undersized service, and decades of amateur alterations carry loads they were never sized for. When a fire starts in an old system inside old construction, the origin is rarely obvious in the debris, and the answer decides the claim. Reading it wrong turns an electrical failure into a suspected act, or the reverse.
Our NAFI-certified investigators build the determination on NFPA 921. They examine the scene methodically, trace the burn and char patterns back to the area of origin, evaluate the electrical and mechanical systems, and rule out ignition sources until the physical evidence supports one conclusion, accidental or incendiary. Reaching the scene early preserves evidence that overhaul and weather can erase, and the same investigator retains it, documents the finding, and testifies to it at deposition and trial.
Fires we investigate
- Residential and commercial fires
- Electrical fires in aged and knob-and-tube wiring
- Heating-system and space-heater fires
- Vehicle fires
- Industrial fires and explosions
Common questions
Forensic engineering in Des Moines, Iowa
A different question about your case? An engineer, not a call center, answers within 24 hours.
Is fire risk in older Des Moines homes really about the wiring?
Often, yes. Much of the city's pre-1940 housing still carries knob-and-tube and undersized wiring altered over decades, and those systems fail in ways that read as an ordinary fault in the debris. We trace the burn patterns to the origin and evaluate the electrical evidence before assigning a cause.
Once the river drops, can you still evaluate flood damage?
Yes. Much of the structural evidence stays in place after the Des Moines or Raccoon River recedes, and we evaluate the foundation, framing, and finishes to separate what the flood caused from a pre-existing condition or a defect.
Do you charge travel to reach Des Moines?
No. We work Des Moines-area cases from our Omaha lab and Los Angeles office with no travel charges, and a licensed engineer responds within 24 hours.
Have a loss that needs answers?
Tell us what happened. An engineer, not a call center, will review your case.