Story County, Iowa
Construction & Remodeling
Story County counts 101,291 residents and 42,463 housing units across two very different housing markets. Ames has 68,220 residents, Iowa State University enrolls 31,105 students, and just 42.1 percent of Ames homes are owner-occupied.
Nevada, the county seat, sits ten miles east at 71.9 percent owner-occupied, with a median home value about $95,000 lower. Busy Builders works in both, and the rules differ.
Call: 844-435-9800 Website: https://busybuildersiowa.com/
Story County, Iowa General Contractor
About Us
We started Busy Builders to bring honesty back to remodeling and home building. Our team came out of the trades with decades of hands-on work behind them. We have served more than 1,285 Central Iowa homeowners since 2020.
Our Mission
Give every homeowner the most transparent and honest experience we can on any construction project. That means real numbers, real timelines, and a plain answer when the answer is not what you hoped.
Our Vision
We want to be the registered general contractor that homeowners in Ames, Nevada, Maxwell and rural Story County call first.
Cities We Service in Story County
Four Story County communities, from the rental rules in Ames to the older housing stock in Nevada, Maxwell and Story City.
Ames
Occupancy frozen near campus
Nevada
County seat, 72% owner occupied
Maxwell
Small city permit desk
Story City
42 inch footings by ordinance
Huxley
Grew 27.9 percent last decade
Gilbert
Highest household income in county
Slater
On the High Trestle Trail
Roland
Oldest housing stock in county
Full-Service Construction and Remodeling Across Story County
New homes outside city limits start with a Story County zoning permit at 515-382-7245. The fee is $50 up to $20,000 in valuation, then 0.15 percent of value, so a $400,000 home pays $600. No county inspector reviews the structure, so your builder sets the standard. Ames publishes a 42 inch frost line, and we set footings to that depth countywide. Iowa now requires a passive radon method in new one- and two-family homes. Home building starts at $150 per square foot, and final costs vary by scope, materials and complexity.
Story County gives us two very different remodels. In Ames, much of the work is rental property, and the occupancy freeze near campus changes what a project is worth. In Nevada and the county’s smaller towns, we work mostly for owners who plan to stay. Either way we open a small area early and price from what we find, not from a guess. Phased remodels spread cost across seasons, and we sequence them so you never lose the kitchen and the only bathroom at once.
Kitchen work in Story County splits by who owns the house. Landlords near campus remodel to lease. Owners in Nevada and Maxwell remodel to stay. Either way, move a wall or a gas line and a permit follows. Inside Ames that permit comes from the Inspections Division at 515-239-5153. Inside Nevada it runs through Cloudpermit. Outside both, the county checks siting rather than the work itself. Older homes near campus hide surprises behind the plaster. Kitchen remodeling starts at $250 per square foot, and final costs vary by scope, materials and complexity.
A basement finished twenty years ago often fails today’s rules in quiet ways. Ceiling height under 7 feet. A bedroom with no compliant egress. A stair with the wrong rise. We walk it with you and sort the must-change items from the want-to-change items. That list is usually shorter than people fear. In Ames, one more question comes first. Rental Code bedroom requirements differ from Assessor requirements, so a room can count one way and not the other. We sort that out before design, not after drywall.
A bathroom packs more trades into less space than any other room. Story County adopted no building code, so on rural land nobody inspects the rough-in. Iowa still licenses the plumbers and electricians doing the work, and that licensing is the floor, not the ceiling. We hold the job to code either way. Inside Ames, the Inspections Division reviews it at 515-239-5153. We lay out clearances on the floor before we order anything, because an inch matters at a door swing. A basement bath needs a drain plan before demolition, not after.
An addition changes your footprint, and the footprint is exactly what a Story County zoning permit reviews. Setbacks, floodplain siting and platting all get checked at 515-382-7245. New footings go below 42 inches, the depth Ames publishes and the number we use countywide. If the work adds a driveway onto a county road, the county engineer issues that permit at 515-382-6581. We build additional stories, sunrooms, garages, ADUs and tornado shelters. Additions start at $300 per square foot, and final costs vary by scope, materials and complexity.
Finishing a Story County basement starts with water, because the Des Moines Lobe drains poorly. Nothing goes on a wall until the perimeter drain, the sump and the grading are right. Then three numbers matter. A bedroom needs an egress opening with 5.7 square feet of net clear area. Habitable ceiling height runs 7 feet minimum. And we test for radon before we finish, not after, since Iowa averages 8.5 pCi/L indoors against 1.3 nationally. Near the Ames campus, more bedrooms still will not raise your allowed occupant count.
A deck outside city limits needs a Story County zoning permit, which checks where the deck sits rather than how it is built. Inside Ames or Nevada, the city reviews the structure too. Footings go below 42 inches either way, the frost depth Ames publishes. Skip that and a deck on shallow piers can heave after a hard winter. We size footings for the span, flash the ledger properly, and build guard height and stair rise to code. That last part is where most rebuilt decks fail.
MORE BEDROOMS, NOT MORE TENANTS
This is the rule that changes what a remodel is worth near campus. Ames caps rental occupancy. In seven designated Near Campus Neighborhoods, the city froze that cap as of January 1, 2018, using Assessor bedroom counts.
The city puts it in its own words. Bedrooms can be added in these neighborhoods, but the maximum number of allowed adult occupants cannot increase.
Read that twice if you own a rental there. A finished basement adds a bedroom. A converted attic adds a bedroom. Neither adds a legal adult occupant, so neither adds rent.
The city also warns that Rental Code bedroom requirements differ from Assessor requirements. A room can count one way and not the other. Get your frozen number in writing from the Inspections Division before you spend a dollar on design.
- Ames froze rental occupancy in seven Near Campus Neighborhoods as of January 1, 2018
- The freeze uses Assessor bedroom counts, so added bedrooms do not raise the allowed occupant cap
- Ames warns that Rental Code bedroom requirements differ from Assessor requirements, so verify both numbers
THREE DESKS, THREE NUMBERS, TWO PORTALS
Story County Planning and Development sits at 900 Sixth Street in Nevada. The county calls its permit a zoning permit, and its own fee schedule labels it Zoning (Building).
The work splits three ways, and mixing them up is the most common mistake we see. Zoning permits answer at 515-382-7245. Environmental health and septic answer at 515-382-7240. The county engineer, who handles driveway entrances, answers at 515-382-6581.
Then there are two portals. Zoning applications go through Schneider GeoPermits. Septic goes through CitizenServe. File in the wrong one and nobody forwards it, so your project sits while you wait on a review that never started.
A rural address near Ames or Nevada permits through the county, not the city. Call 515-382-7245 if you are not sure which side of the line you are on.
- Zoning permits answer at 515-382-7245, from Story County Planning and Development at 900 Sixth Street
- Environmental health and septic run through 515-382-7240, a separate desk with a separate portal
- Driveway entrances onto county roads go to the county engineer at 515-382-6581, not zoning
TWO INSPECTIONS, NEITHER ONE STRUCTURAL
Almost everyone gets this part wrong. Story County has adopted no building code. Iowa lets a county opt in by ordinance, and this county never has.
The county still runs two inspections. One checks foundation location. One checks final conformance. Both look at zoning, floodplain, erosion control and platting. Neither looks at structure, framing, energy, mechanical or plumbing.
So outside city limits, no county inspector reviews the house itself. The quality of the build rests on who you hire, which is a fair thing to know before you sign with anyone.
Inside Ames the picture flips. The Ames Inspections Division works from 515 Clark Avenue at 515-239-5153 and enforces a full set of codes. Ames tops 15,000 residents, so Iowa Code 103A.10(2)(d) requires the city to have one.
- The county inspects foundation location and final conformance, checking zoning and floodplain siting only
- Ames enforces the 2015 IBC, IRC and IEBC, with the 2020 NEC, 2021 IMC and 2021 UPC
- A March 2, 2026 staff report recommends the 2024 editions, so confirm before you finalize drawings
A $400,000 HOME PAYS $600
Story County publishes its fees, and the math is simple. A zoning permit costs $50 up to $20,000 in valuation. Above that, the fee runs 0.15 percent of value. Run a $400,000 home through it and the permit lands at $600.
The other county fees are flat. A floodplain structural permit runs $200. Grading runs $75. A re-inspection runs $75, and a new 911 address marker runs $150.
A low permit fee is not a bargain, it is a signal. The county charges little because it reviews little. Siting gets checked. Structure does not.
Watch the clock too. A preliminary permit expires six months after issuance unless construction has started. You get one six-month extension, and the work has to finish within 18 months.
- A zoning permit costs $50 up to $20,000 in valuation, then 0.15 percent of value
- Floodplain structural permits run $200, grading $75, re-inspection $75 and a new 911 address marker $150
- Preliminary permits expire in six months without a start, and construction must finish within 18 months
GLACIAL TILL THAT WILL NOT DRAIN
All of Story County sits on the Des Moines Lobe, Iowa’s youngest glacial landscape at 12,000 to 14,000 years old. That single fact explains most of the water problems here.
The till is dense and overconsolidated, and natural drainage is poor. Prairie potholes and kettles hold water with no outlet, and water tables run high. Farm ground carries buried drain tile that an excavator can cut without anyone noticing until a neighbor’s field ponds.
So we design basements for water first. Perimeter drain, a working sump, positive grading away from the foundation. Where drainage is a question, we pull parcel data from the USDA Web Soil Survey before we design the foundation.
Flooding is documented here. The August 2010 event dropped 9.61 inches of rain over 96 hours and set a record on the South Skunk River.
- The August 2010 storm set a record 36,200 cubic feet per second on the South Skunk below Ioway Creek
- The Ioway Creek Flood Mitigation Project won a 2020 FEMA grant covering 75 percent of $4.9 million
- Ames publishes a 42 inch frost line, and every Iowa county sits in EPA radon Zone 1
TEN MILES, TWO DIFFERENT MARKETS
Story County holds 101,291 residents and 42,463 housing units across two markets that barely resemble each other.
Ames has 68,220 residents, Iowa State enrolls 31,105 students, and just 42.1 percent of Ames homes are owner-occupied. That makes it a rental town with a remodeling market shaped by landlords and the occupancy freeze near campus.
Nevada, the county seat, sits ten miles east. It runs 71.9 percent owner-occupied with a median home value about $95,000 lower. Nevada permits through Planning and Zoning at City Hall, 1209 6th Street, 515-382-5466, with applications through Cloudpermit. Maxwell is small enough that the City Clerk handles permits at 515-387-8655.
Ames, Ballard, Collins-Maxwell, Colo-NESCO, Gilbert, Nevada and Roland-Story districts serve county families.
- Ames runs 42.1 percent owner-occupied, and Iowa State enrolled 31,105 students in Fall 2025
- Nevada is 71.9 percent owner-occupied, with a median home value about $95,000 below Ames
- Nevada permits at 515-382-5466 through Cloudpermit, and the Maxwell City Clerk answers at 515-387-8655
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Since 2020, more than 1,285 Central Iowa homeowners have trusted us with their projects, and it shows.
Quality Construction at the Right Price.
Additions
Based on Average Pricing in Story County.
- Additional Story
- Tornado Shelter
- Living Room
- Bedroom
- Sunroom
- Bathroom
- Garage
- ADU
Kitchen Remodeling
Based on Average Pricing in Story County.
- Countertops
- Appliances
- Cabinetry
- Windows
- Islands
- Lights
Home Building
Based on Average Pricing in Story County.
- Dream Build
- Multi-Family
- Tiny Home
- Spec Build
- Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs About Building in Story County
Will finishing my basement let me rent to one more person in Ames?
Probably not. Ames caps rental occupancy, and in the seven Near Campus Neighborhoods it froze that cap on January 1, 2018 using Assessor bedroom counts. The city allows you to add bedrooms there. It does not allow the number of adult occupants to rise. So a finished basement or a converted attic buys you space, comfort and resale value, not rent. The city also warns that Rental Code bedroom requirements differ from Assessor requirements. Get your frozen occupancy number in writing from the Inspections Division at 515-239-5153 before you pay anyone for design work.
Does Story County inspect my framing?
No. Story County adopted no building code, so it issues a zoning permit and inspects only two things. One inspection confirms foundation location. One confirms final conformance. Both look at zoning, floodplain, erosion control and platting. Framing, energy, mechanical and plumbing get no county review at all. Inside Ames, the Inspections Division handles building inspections from 515 Clark Avenue at 515-239-5153. Inside Nevada, the city Building Official runs the process through Cloudpermit. On rural land the standard is whatever your contractor chooses to build to, which is worth asking about directly.
What does a Story County zoning permit cost?
Fifty dollars up to $20,000 in valuation, then 0.15 percent of value above that. A $400,000 home works out to $600, which is a fraction of what a metro city charges. Other county fees are flat. A floodplain structural permit runs $200, grading runs $75, a re-inspection runs $75, and a new 911 address marker runs $150. Watch the calendar too. A preliminary permit expires six months after issuance unless construction has started. You get one six-month extension, and the work must finish within 18 months. Call 515-382-7245 with your numbers.
Do I need a perc test for a septic system in Story County?
Not anymore. Story County stopped using traditional percolation tests. An approved soils professional evaluates the site, and the county Sanitarian does the soil coring. A certified contractor installs the system, and the final inspection needs eight hours of notice. Septic runs through Environmental Health at 515-382-7240, on the CitizenServe portal, not the zoning portal. One more thing saves people real money. Leave the future septic area undisturbed until installation. Parking equipment or piling spoil on it can ruin the drainfield before it exists, so rope it off on day one.
Should I worry about flooding in Story County?
Check your parcel before you plan a basement near a stream. The August 2010 event dropped 9.61 inches of rain over 96 hours. It produced a record 36,200 cubic feet per second on the South Skunk River below Ioway Creek. That flow carries an annual probability below 0.2 percent, which is rarer than a 100-year event. The Ioway Creek Flood Mitigation Project won a 2020 FEMA grant covering 75 percent of a $4.9 million budget. It aims to cut flood elevation about two feet near South Duff Avenue. Start at the FEMA Map Service Center.
Is Busy Builders licensed in Iowa?
Iowa registers general contractors rather than licensing them. We hold registration with the Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals and Licensing. Iowa Code Chapter 91C requires it of anyone earning $2,000 or more a year from construction. Electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians do hold separate state licenses, and we work with licensed trades on every job. That distinction carries extra weight on rural Story County ground, where no county inspector reviews structure. Ask any builder what they mean by the word licensed. Busy Builders has served more than 1,285 Central Iowa homeowners since 2020.
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