The Des Moines Rehabbers Club mission is to promote neighborhood revitalization and restoration of Des Moines' unique building stock by informing, educating, inspiring, and supporting each other in all phases of home renovation and maintenance.
ANYONE may join the Des Moines Rehabbers Club for free and attend monthly meetings or participate in the e-mail group! All you need is an interest in responsible stewardship of Des Moines’ unique buildings. We are here to provide support and encouragement for people who are undertaking renovation projects from repairing trim or replacing a toilet seat all the way through a gut renovation or full restoration project.
There are plenty of opportunities to get involved – we are looking for people with a passion for renovation and organization!
RenovateDSM.com is the official web site of the Des Moines Rehabbers Club.
This web site was developed to serve as an information resource to both novices and experienced renovators working in the Des Moines area. Des Moines is composed of many unique neighborhoods, each with its own unique mix of historic buildings ranging from small frame shotgun homes to multi million dollar mansions, corner storefronts to massive warehouses. Adaptive reuse, preserving, restoring, and renovating these buildings helps enhance the region's overall character and appeal.
Renovating a home for yourself or for profit can be an extraordinary and fulfilling experience. Renovation allows you to retain the quality and character of an historic home without sacrificing modern conveniences such as air conditioning and whirlpool tubs. Chances are if you are reading this page, you are at least exploring opportunities for renovating or rehabbing a home - welcome to the club!
Please feel free to leave comments and feedback on any article - we look forward to learning from you!
Membership in the Des Moines Rehabbers Club is FREE! Members can attend monthly meetings at a variety of interesting locations
throughout the City. From time to time, certain benefits such as discounts at local stores or reduced admission to DSMRC special events may be made available to members.
Donations to help the DSMRC (refreshments, web hosting, etc) are always welcome, but are not tax deductible at this time.
Members must sign a liability waiver.
The Des Moines Rehabbers Club (DSMRC) activities focus on construction and renovation. Construction and renovation related activities are inherently dangerous. DSMRC event participants and members must recognize the potential for injury to themselves which may result from participation in DSMRC activities and meetings. The DSMRC intends that participants and members expressly assume all risks and liability for any injuries to, or caused by, participants and members.
Click on the link below to download the membership form. Return it to Steve Wilke-Shapiro, 3134 Cottage Grove, Des Moines, IA 50311 or bring it to the next monthly meeting. Hope to see you there!
All content on renovateDSM.com is the opinion of the author only. This web site shall be used for general information purposes only. Text descriptions may include errors and/or omissions of information that are critical to a safe, complete, and successful project.
Knowledgeable people often disagree on the "best" way to perform even the most mundane of renovation tasks. Renovation is a complex process - owners and contractors should always refer to multiple sources of information before undertaking any activity at which they are inexperienced. Failure to follow generally accepted construction safety practices, even if not explicitly stated on this web site, may result in serious injury, death and/or damage to property.
By using or following advice on this web site, the user warrants that he or she understands the inherent risks in renovation, and assumes all liability for injury, death, or damage to property incurred as a result of explicit or implicit advice on this web site.
That said, there are many activities that even an inexperienced renovator can undertake safely and effectively. As you decide which tasks to take on, carefully judge your skill, available time, and patience level. Overestimating your ability to tackle a new and difficult task can have a lasting negative impact on your project and your overall satisfaction with the renovation process.
Even when there are tasks you cannot perform yourself, take the opportunity to learn from your contractors. Ask them to explain the whys and hows so you can better understand the way your house is put together.
Register on RenovateDSM for free to access additional features! In order to register, you will need a valid e-mail address and of course an interest in renovation.
Registered users can do the following things:
Additional features such as extended content, an optional e-mail newsletter, and other benefits for registered users will be implemented as RenovateDSM.com grows.
Your e-mail address will NEVER be sold, leased, given away, or otherwise used for any purpose other than RenovateDSM site related communication (such as if you forget your password).
The Des Moines Rehabbers Club is an all volunteer organization, but there are costs incurred for meetings (refreshments), web hosting and domain registration. To help defray these costs, the Des Moines Rehabbers Club offers advertising space on RenovateDSM.com for a modest fee.
For more information, please fill out the Contact Form.
RenovateDSM users are highly targeted towards residential renovation. They are likely to be in the market for a variety of renovation related businesses such as contractors, real estate agents, architects, and hardware stores among others.
RenovateDSM is a content-heavy web site. Viewers will tend to look at more pages per visit than many other web sites, so your advertisement will have more of an impact.
Two different ad sizes are currently available. Standard ad spaces are priced "per view" - the count is incremented each time the ad is "served" to a RenovateDSM viewer.
120x90 pixels - button ad
120x240 pixels - tower ad
Advertisements will be rotated in randomly from the pool of all current ads. Depending on the number of advertisements and the traffic load, 1000 views may last between two and four weeks. All advertising costs must be paid in advance. Nonprofits and other community-based organizations may qualify for free or reduced rates.
If you don't have a digital ad, the web site administrator can create one for you for a nominal fee of $20. The Des Moines Rehabbers Club reserves the right to refuse ads for any reason and/or edit for content as required.