Spray Foam Insulation in Mountain Brook, AL

Spray Foam Insulation in Mountain Brook is often about improving a house without changing its character. Robert Jemison Jr. developed the area in 1929 along the ridges of Red Mountain and Shades Mountain, with commercial life centered on English Village, Mountain Brook Village and Crestline Village. Point2Homes' summary of 2019-2023 Census survey data puts the median year built at 1964, with 14.4% of homes built in 1939 or earlier, 21.8% in the 1950s and 21.1% in the 1960s.

Under the trees

Wikipedia reports that 92.03% of the city is under tree cover. That shade is a real help in summer, since a shaded roof gains less heat. It also means damp roofs, leaf-filled gutters, and crawl spaces that dry out slowly after rain. In houses on the wooded slopes of Cherokee Bend, Brookwood Forest and Overton, the crawl space is often the first place we look.

Working carefully in older homes

Pre-war houses here may have plaster walls, original trim and finished upper rooms tucked under the roof. We fill closed walls with dense-pack cellulose through small holes, choosing whether to drill from outside or inside based on the siding or masonry. In finished attic rooms, we foam the kneewalls and the short attic spaces behind them and work through access panels rather than opening finished ceilings. Where an old house has vermiculite or other suspect material in the attic, we stop and recommend testing before anything is disturbed.

Mid-century ranches and two-stories

The 1950s and 1960s houses that make up much of the city tend to have crawl spaces or partial basements, attic ductwork added or replaced over the years, and attic insulation well short of today's levels. Alabama's amended code, as summarized by Alabama Power, now requires R-30 ceilings in new homes, and the Department of Energy recommends adding R-38 to R-49 over 3 to 4 inches in an existing Zone 3 attic. Many of these attics have less than that.

Additions and renovations

The 2020 census counted 8,424 housing units with only 3.3% vacant, and renovation of existing homes is common. An addition or kitchen remodel with open walls and ceilings is the right moment for spray foam, and it is also the moment to seal the connection between old and new framing, where air leaks tend to concentrate.

Closed cell vs open cell in an older house

In the older Mountain Brook homes we look at, open-cell foam is usually the choice under a roof deck or in kneewalls, because it fills irregular framing and lets a leak in an older roof show itself. Closed-cell is the better fit on crawl space walls and rim joists, where ground moisture and humid air are the risk. Dense-pack cellulose, not foam, is usually the right material for closed plaster walls. We put the reasoning for each choice in writing.

Tell us about the house, including any finished attic rooms or additions, and we will plan a visit. Get a free estimate