Spray Foam Insulation in Carrboro, NC

Spray Foam Insulation in Carrboro often means working in some of the oldest small houses in Orange County. Carrboro started as West End, a mill settlement next to the Alberta Cotton Mill at the end of the State University Railroad spur, and was renamed for industrialist Julian Carr after he expanded the mill. The Carrboro Historic District north of downtown holds what remains of roughly 150 mill houses built for mill workers and their families, and a 1920s building boom added more houses before the mills declined.

What mill houses need

Mill houses are compact one-story frame homes, often on piers or low foundations, with simple gable roofs and small attics. They were built without wall insulation, and many have been updated piecemeal over a century. The big wins are usually under the floor and overhead: a proper ground cover and floor insulation or a sealed crawl space, and an attic sealed at the top plates and chimney before insulation goes in. Because the attics are tight, we often blow loose fill rather than spray foam on the attic floor. On renovations where walls are opened, open-cell foam fills the old cavities well.

Students and renters

Many of the restored houses around Shelton Street are rented, often to graduate students. The 2020 census counted 9,912 housing units in town with only 5.5% vacant and a homeowner vacancy rate of 0.8%, so houses rarely sit empty long. We can plan the noisier and smellier parts of a job, like spray foam, for the gap between leases.

Weather in Carrboro

Wikipedia describes Carrboro's climate as humid subtropical, with an average July high of 89F and an average January high of 49F, and occasional snow and ice storms. Hot, humid summers make the crawl space the first place we look in most Carrboro houses.

Small houses, small budgets

Mill houses are small, which keeps insulation jobs modest in size. A sealed and topped-up attic over a 900 square foot house is a much smaller job than the same work over a two-story suburban home, though job minimums still apply. HomeGuide lists an average attic insulation project at about $1,800 and air sealing at $350 to $3,000 nationally. We give you a price for each step so you can decide what to do now and what can wait.

Moisture under old floors

Where a mill house sits on brick piers with open sides, cold and humid air both move freely under the floor. Insulating between the floor joists with a solid air barrier underneath is often the practical fix, since a full encapsulation is not possible without closing in the foundation.

We give you a written quote with each area on its own line, after we see the house. Get a free estimate