Construction Services in Iona, FL
If you own a home in Iona, you already know the score. Construction here isn’t a simple swap-out-and-paint job. The Caloosahatchee River estuary shapes everything about how we build and remodel, especially after Hurricane Ian rewrote the rulebook in 2022. At Groundwork Construction Co. of Fort Myers, we answer the phone when you call - (844) 638-7249 - and we show up ready for the specific challenge in front of you, whether it’s a canal-front kitchen that needs lifting to meet Lee County’s current flood code, or a roof that has to be hardened before the next named storm spins up in the Gulf.
What happens when you call
- 1
A real person answersNo phone trees - you reach a local pro.
- 2
You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched.
- 3
A background-checked tech heads outLicensed & insured, dispatched right away.
- 4
You approve before work beginsNothing starts until you say go.
Why Iona Homeowners Choose Groundwork Construction Co. of Fort Myers
Iona is unincorporated Lee County, which means every permit for a major remodel or addition goes through the Lee County Building Department, not through a city hall. That matters more than most people realize. The department is still processing a historic volume of post-Ian substantial-improvement reviews, and a contractor who doesn’t understand that timeline - or who hasn’t pulled a permit here in the last three years - can leave a homeowner stranded with an open roof in August. We’re not that contractor. Our crews live and work in the Fort Myers metro, and we’ve moved through the Lee County process for dozens of projects since Ian, from straightforward roof replacements in the Iona Gardens area to full structural elevation and remodeling on canal lots off McGregor Boulevard.
Beyond the permitting issue, two things set us apart for Iona homeowners: the 730-Day Done Right Promise and the fact that a live person answers our phones 24/7. When a summer thunderstorm peels back a section of underlayment on a project that’s mid-build, you don’t wait until Monday to get someone on site. You call, we answer, and we make it right. Every technician who shows up at your Iona property is background-checked and in uniform - your neighbors will know exactly who’s working on your home, and so will you. Our reputation in Iona is built on showing up prepared, pricing honestly, and standing behind the work longer than anyone else in Southwest Florida. That’s not marketing. That’s the 730-Day Done Right Promise, and it’s in writing on every contract we sign.
Construction Services We Offer in Iona
Kitchen Remodeling
A kitchen remodel in Iona often starts with questions about slab elevation and flood-zone compliance before we ever talk about cabinet layouts. We handle that entire conversation so you can focus on choosing your finishes from brands like KraftMaid and Cambria, knowing the structural work is already accounted for.
Learn more about our Kitchen Remodeling in Iona.
Bathroom Remodeling
Iona’s older CBS homes - especially those built in the 1970s and 1980s along the finger canals - frequently have bathrooms with original cast-iron plumbing stacks that have been corroding in the salt air for decades. We open walls expecting to find it, and we budget for it upfront so you’re not surprised mid-job.
Learn more about our Bathroom Remodeling in Iona.
Home Additions & ADU
Adding square footage in Iona triggers the Lee County “substantial improvement” threshold faster than homeowners expect, especially on older canal-front lots where the assessed value hasn’t kept pace with construction costs. We can walk you through an honest assessment of whether your project will require elevation, and connect you with a marine engineer for the seawall certification the county now demands on many lifted lots.
Learn more about our Home Additions & ADU in Iona.
Roofing
Iona sits directly in the storm-surge corridor, and the wind exposure along the Caloosahatchee is no joke. We install GAF and CertainTeed roofing systems with upgraded nail patterns and secondary water barriers that exceed Lee County’s post-Ian code minimums, because the next storm doesn’t care about the minimum.
Windows & Doors
Impact-rated openings are non-negotiable in Iona now. We install Andersen and Marvin impact windows and doors that carry the Florida Product Approval numbers you’ll need for your insurance discount, and we seal every rough opening as if it’s going to take a direct hit, because around here, it might.
Fence Installation
Canal-front fencing in Iona has to contend with brackish soil chemistry that chews through untreated posts in under five years. We use rot-resistant systems from ActiveYards and Belgard that are engineered for coastal Florida conditions, not shipped in from a Midwest catalog.
Driveway & Pavers
Low-lying Iona lots mean drainage is the first conversation on any paver job. We grade for sheet flow toward the canal or street and use permeable paver systems from Belgard and Tremron that keep standing water off your driveway during the afternoon deluges that roll through from June through September.
Neighborhoods We Serve in Iona
We work across the full Iona footprint, from the waterfront homes tucked into the canals to the established subdivisions that define the community’s character. Here are a few of the Iona neighborhoods where we’ve completed recent projects:
- Iona Gardens
- McGregor Isles
- Iona Shores
- Cypress Cay
- Whiskey Creek
Why Iona’s Climate & Housing Affect Construction
Iona’s residential stock is overwhelmingly 1970s-to-1990s concrete-block construction on slab, and a significant share of those slabs were poured at elevations that now fall well below Lee County’s current Base Flood Elevation requirements. That means every kitchen remodel, bathroom gut, or ADU addition has to start with the same question: will this project cross the 50% substantial-improvement line? If the answer is yes, the county is going to require you to lift the entire structure, including the slab. That’s not a hypothetical. We’ve seen it happen on McGregor Isles canal lots where a seemingly routine interior renovation triggered a full elevation project because the assessed value hadn’t been adjusted in decades and the improvement cost eclipsed the threshold overnight. Understanding this dynamic before a dollar is spent is the single most valuable thing any contractor can offer an Iona homeowner.
The climate compresses the calendar, too. Meaningful structural work - roofing, additions, anything with open framing or exposed concrete - has to be sequenced around the October-to-May dry season. Afternoon thunderstorms can arrive in under 30 minutes from late May onward, and a freshly poured slab that gets saturated before it cures is a tear-out, not a repair. Our project schedules in Iona are built around that reality from day one, not revised in a panic when the radar lights up.
Pricing for Construction in Iona
Upfront pricing isn’t a slogan for us. It’s how we run every project. A kitchen remodel in Iona typically runs from $45,000 to $95,000 depending on layout changes and finishes. Bathroom renovations start around $22,000 and scale from there. Roofing on a standard Iona CBS home runs $14,000 to $28,000. Home additions and ADUs are more variable, but we can give you a written, line-item estimate before you sign anything. We also offer 0% financing for 18 months and $1,000 off any project over $10,000, which makes a meaningful remodel significantly easier to plan. Call (844) 638-7249 and we’ll put real numbers on paper - no surprises, no change-order games.
Service Area - Cities Near Iona
While Iona is our focus on this page, our crews also serve homeowners throughout the Fort Myers metro. If you’re nearby, you can learn more about our work in Fort Myers, Lochmoor Waterway Estates, North Fort Myers, and Pine Manor - many of the same permitting and climate realities apply, and we bring the same 730-Day Done Right Promise to every job.
Serving Iona, FL - Our Local Coverage Area
We’re based in the Iona area and know this community well. Use the map below to see our service coverage - if you’re nearby, we can almost certainly help.
FAQs About Construction in Iona
If the cost of your planned remodel, addition, or repair exceeds 50% of your home’s assessed structure value, Lee County will require you to bring the entire structure into compliance with current flood elevation standards, which can mean lifting the house. We evaluate this on every Iona project before design work begins, so you know exactly where you stand before you spend a dime on plans. Call (844) 638-7249 and we’ll walk through your property’s specifics - estimates are free.
On many Iona canal-front lots that were rebuilt or lifted after Hurricane Ian, Lee County now requires a seawall certification from a licensed marine engineer before they’ll issue a building permit. This is a step we coordinate early in the process; we have relationships with marine engineers who know the Iona canal system and can turn the certification around without the multi-week delays that catch out-of-area contractors off guard.
The dry season, roughly October through May, is the window for any project that involves open framing, roofing, or concrete work. Afternoon thunderstorms ramp up quickly by late May, and a sudden downpour on exposed materials can cause expensive setbacks. We schedule all Iona structural work within that window by default, and we protect active job sites with the assumption that a storm can roll through with almost no warning.
Yes. We pull every permit for every project in Iona, and we manage the entire process through the Lee County Building Department. That includes coordinating inspections, navigating the post-Ian review backlog, and making sure the final sign-off is in hand before we consider the job complete. We don’t ask homeowners to pull their own permits, and we don’t work without them.
If anything we built isn’t done right within 730 days of completion, we come back and make it right at no charge. That covers everything from cabinet hardware to roofing underlayment. No fine print, no prorating. It’s one of the longest workmanship guarantees in residential construction in Florida, and it applies to every Iona project we take on. Call (844) 638-7249 to schedule your free estimate and see exactly what’s included, in writing, before you commit to anything.
Written by Derek Hollenbeck, Owner at Groundwork Construction Co. of Fort Myers.
What happens when you call
- 1A real person answersNo phone trees - talk to a local construction pro.
- 2You get an upfront price rangeHonest numbers before anyone is dispatched. No surprises.
- 3We come out and measureLicensed & insured, at a time that suits you - the visit and the quote are both free.
- 4You get the price in writingLine-itemed, yours to keep, and nothing starts until you say go.
What Iona Customers Say
"He told me one part of what I wanted was a bad idea structurally and offered an alternative instead of just taking the money."
- Angela Wong"Change orders were written down and priced before the work happened, every single time. No surprise at the end."
- Keisha Robinson"The schedule he gave me at the start was accurate to within four days on a three month job. Anyone who has done a renovation knows how unusual that is."
- Laura Bennett