Spray Foam Insulation in Bessemer, AL

Spray Foam Insulation in Bessemer usually means bringing an older house up to modern standards. The city was founded in 1886 by the Bessemer Land and Improvement Company, owned by coal magnate Henry F. DeBardeleben, and incorporated in 1887. The iron ore, coal and limestone around the southern end of Jones Valley made it a steelmaking center from about 1890 on. Point2Homes' summary of 2019-2023 Census survey data puts Bessemer's median year built at 1963, with 20% of homes built in 1939 or earlier and 10.1% in the 1940s.

The typical Bessemer house

Houses from the city's industrial era, many of them modest frame homes, were built on piers or block foundations over a vented crawl space, with little or no wall insulation and a shallow attic. Over the decades, central air was added, usually with ductwork run under the floor or across the attic. The result is a house that leaks air through floors, walls and ceiling, with ducts sitting in humid crawl space air or hot attic air.

Start under the floor

In many Bessemer houses, the crawl space is where the biggest gains are. Summer air in this part of Alabama is humid, and it comes in through foundation vents and condenses on cool ducts and floor framing. Encapsulating the crawl space with a vapor barrier, sealed vents and closed-cell foam on the walls keeps it dry. Where the crawl space is low or hard to seal, insulating the floor above to the Department of Energy's Zone 3 recommendation of R-19 is the alternative.

Then the attic and walls

Shallow attics in older houses usually hold a thin layer of old fill. Sealing the attic floor and blowing in cellulose or fiberglass to depth is inexpensive and effective. Walls can be filled with dense-pack cellulose through small holes. Older houses can also hide surprises, such as knob-and-tube wiring or vermiculite in the attic, which need attention from the right specialist before insulation work.

Renovation and vacant homes

The 2020 census counted 12,218 housing units in Bessemer with 13.0% vacant. Many older houses are being bought and rehabbed. If you are renovating, open walls and ceilings are the time to insulate, and a quick look before drywall can save money later. Termites are worth checking too: HUD places Alabama in its very heavy termite zone, and renovation often uncovers old damage near sills and floor framing.

Doing it in stages

Many Bessemer homeowners prefer to spread insulation work out. Because we price the attic, the crawl space and the walls as separate lines, you can start with the attic floor, which costs the least and affects the whole house, and come back to the crawl space or walls later. If budget is tight, the attic plus sealing the biggest crawl space openings usually gives the most comfort for the money.

Tell us the age of the house and what is under it, and we will set up a visit and a written quote. Get a free estimate