Spray Foam Insulation in Fort Thomas, KY

Spray foam insulation in Fort Thomas usually involves a pre-war or 1950s house. ACS data on Point2Homes shows about 32.1% of the city's housing predates 1940 and 18.2% is from the 1950s, with a median year built of 1955. Wikipedia notes that in 1887 the Army sought a site to replace the repeatedly flooded Newport Barracks and General Sheridan chose the Highlands, the high ground the city now occupies.

Hills and exposed foundations

Fort Thomas sits on the south bank of the Ohio with relatively large hills and valleys. Houses on slopes often have exposed foundations and walkout basements. Closed-cell foam on the exposed rim joist and walls reduces heat loss and keeps humid summer air from condensing on the masonry.

Pre-war homes

Older Fort Thomas houses share the problems of old homes everywhere in the region: open attic floors, balloon-frame cavities and empty walls. We seal the connections between the basement, walls and attic, then insulate the attic to depth and fill empty frame walls where it makes sense.

Owner-occupied

About 71.2% of occupied homes in Fort Thomas are owned and 68.8% of units are single-family detached. Owners who plan to stay tend to want a full plan, so we look at the whole house.

Kentucky code

Fort Thomas follows Kentucky's 2009 IECC-based residential energy rules. The Insulation Institute's state summary lists R-38 ceilings, R-13 walls and R-13 or R-10 continuous for basement walls in Zone 4.

Third floors and finished attics

Older Fort Thomas houses often have a finished third floor or attic room under the roof, with sloped ceilings, knee walls and small attic pockets behind them. Those rooms swing hard with the seasons. Sealing and insulating the knee walls and the attic floors behind them, and the small flat attic above the ceiling if one exists, is usually the fix. Where the ceiling follows the roof with no attic, closed-cell foam under the roof deck may be the option.

Fixing the bottom of the house

On a hillside, the basement wall that faces downhill is exposed to wind and weather like any above-grade wall. The rim joist along that side is often the coldest strip in the house. Foam there, plus sealing around the basement windows and any pipes through the wall, is one of the quickest improvements we make.

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