Spray Foam Insulation in Vestavia Hills, AL

Spray Foam Insulation in Vestavia Hills often starts with a house from the city's first building boom. Residential development here began in 1946, when Charles Byrd laid out a subdivision on the southern flank of Shades Mountain, and the city incorporated on November 8, 1950. Point2Homes' summary of 2019-2023 Census survey data shows 16.7% of homes built in the 1950s, 16.6% in the 1960s and 18.2% in the 1970s, for a median year built of 1978.

The mountain shapes the house

The city is named for former Birmingham mayor George B. Ward's estate on the crest of Shades Mountain, where his 1925 mansion was modeled on Rome's Temple of Vesta. The terrain that gave the city its views also shaped its houses. Many sit on sloped lots, with a partly exposed basement or a crawl space that is shallow at one end and tall at the other. Those foundations take in moisture from the uphill side, and the exposed walls on the downhill side lose heat in winter and gain it in summer.

Mid-century attics and walls

Houses from the 1950s through the 1970s were built when a few inches of attic insulation was considered plenty. Today that layer has settled, been walked on or been disturbed by cable and electrical work. The Department of Energy recommends adding R-38 to R-49 where 3 to 4 inches already cover a Zone 3 attic. Wall cavities in homes from that era may have thin batts or nothing at all, and brick veneer homes usually have to be insulated from inside.

Basements and crawl spaces on hillsides

For a partly buried basement, closed-cell spray foam on the walls and rim joists insulates and slows the moisture coming through the masonry. In crawl spaces we look closely at drainage, since water from uphill often finds its way under the house. Sealing and encapsulating a crawl space here only works once the water has somewhere else to go.

Newer Vestavia Hills

The city has also grown through annexation and new development, including Cahaba Heights and Liberty Park, and about 12.5% of homes were built from 2000 to 2009. Those houses usually have their ducts in the attic and benefit most from attic sealing or encapsulation.

Split levels and additions

Houses built in the 1960s and 1970s often grew over the years with a den, sunroom or second-story addition. Where old and new framing meet, there is usually a gap that leaks air into the attic or the crawl space, and the addition may have its own short attic or low-slope roof with little room for insulation. We check each section of the house separately, since an addition from the 1990s and the original 1950s core rarely need the same treatment. The quote lists each part on its own line, so you can decide what to do now and what to leave for a later remodel.

Tell us the year your house was built and whether it has a basement or crawl space, and we will come look. Get a free estimate