Foundation Repair in Windsor Heights

Windsor Heights at a glance

Windsor Heights is a small city of 5,252 people (2020) covering just 1.41 square miles, surrounded by Des Moines, Urbandale, Clive and West Des Moines.

What that means for your foundation

Windsor Heights is almost entirely built out, mostly with mid-century houses on block basements. After 60 to 80 years, block walls here often show horizontal cracks or a slight lean; see bowing wall repair. Small lots leave little room to regrade, so downspout lines and swales do more of the work.

Mature trees

Big old trees near the house draw moisture from the soil in dry summers and can lift walks and slabs with their roots. Basements that were finished decades ago may hide old cracks behind paneling.

Named for a school

Windsor Heights incorporated on July 19, 1941, and took its name from nearby Windsor Elementary School in Des Moines, which honored early settler Henry Clay Windsor, whose family donated its land. In 1958 the city annexed the neighboring community of Crestwood, adding about 1,300 residents and fixing today's boundaries. It got its own ZIP code, 50324, in 2009. Many basements here are original to those years; see foundation inspections. Tight side yards between neighbors can trap runoff, and a shallow swale or a buried downspout line is often the simplest way to move it toward the street.