Cramerton, NC
2 miles west
Median home built 2001 (Belmont: 2002); 5,713 people, about a third of Belmont's population
Attic insulation in CramertonAttic Insulation in Belmont, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Belmont, NC, in Gaston County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Belmont and Its Homes
Belmont grew on a Catawba River peninsula from a railroad stop into a cotton mill town with twenty mills by 1930. Its houses run from 1880s frame I-houses and interwar bungalows near Main Street to postwar streets in South Belmont and newer subdivisions toward the tip of the peninsula.
Belmont, in Gaston County, grew from 15,164 people in 2020 to 16,415 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 12.2 square miles. That makes Belmont the third-largest town in Gaston County.
Belmont has about 6,700 housing units, 7 percent of Gaston County's; 71 percent of the city's households own their home.
Belmont at a Glance
- County: Gaston County
- Population: 16,415 (2025), 15,164 (2020), up 8.2%
- Land area: 12.2 square miles (1,345 people each)
- Housing units: about 6,700 (±352)
- Median year built: 2002 (±2); Gaston County: 1982
- Owner-occupied: 71% (±4); Gaston County: 67%
- Detached houses: 73% (±4); Gaston County: 73%
- Attached houses: 7% (±3)
- Apartments: 17% (±4)
- Mobile homes: 3% (±1)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Belmont attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Belmont, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Belmont Homes and Their Attics
Story-and-a-Half Bungalows Near Main Street
Most houses in the Belmont Historic District date from the early twentieth century, above all the years between the world wars. The 1996 nomination describes streets of weatherboarded bungalows and Colonial Revival houses built from the 1920s into the 1940s, and its inventory lists more than two dozen story-and-a-half houses, many with dormers. Upstairs, the rooms fit under the slope of the roof, closed off from the eaves by low knee walls. Air slips through the spaces behind and under those walls, which ENERGY STAR lists among the common attic leaks. We block and seal the open floor cavities beneath them, then insulate the small side attics along with the space overhead.
Frame Houses From the Railroad Years
A few houses in the district predate the textile boom that began with Chronicle Mills in 1901. The nomination names three Stowe family frame houses from the 1880s and 1890s, two of them center-hall I-houses of two stories and two on Catawba Street. Older two-story frame houses were sometimes balloon framed, with studs running from the sill to the roof and no plate at the top of each floor. If a house turns out to be built that way, its stud bays may run up unbroken into the attic, and warm air rides up them. Those openings are found and sealed from above before any insulation goes in.
South Belmont and the Newer Peninsula Streets
The 1996 nomination places post-World War II streets in South Belmont, and newer subdivisions with curving streets and cul-de-sacs in the woods toward the south end of the peninsula. It also notes that house building climbed after the war, when money put by in the war years let many workers leave the mill villages. The Census figures printed on this page put most of Belmont's homes in 1970 or later. A house on those newer south-end streets may have a room built over its garage. There, the floor above the garage and the knee walls along the room are the places to air seal and insulate. The floor insulation should press up against the subfloor.
Attic Insulation in Belmont
Some 27 percent of Belmont's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
In 2010 or later, 36 percent of Belmont homes went up; check their air sealing as well as the depth.
The Local Climate
Belmont's center sits about 680 feet above sea level, 5 miles from NOAA's Charlotte Douglas Airport station, the best match for Belmont. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,060 heating and 1,770 cooling degree days a year, so at Belmont's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 73 percent of Belmont housing units are detached single-family houses.
From 1990 to 2009, 27 percent of Belmont homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
About 31 percent of Belmont's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 13% (±3), about 850 units
- 1940s: 5% (±2), about 320 units
- 1950s: 6% (±2), about 390 units
- 1960s: 4% (±2), about 240 units
- 1970s: 4% (±2), about 270 units
- 1980s: 6% (±2), about 430 units
- 1990s: 9% (±3), about 630 units
- 2000s: 18% (±3), about 1,190 units
- 2010s: 27% (±4), about 1,840 units
- 2020 or later: 9% (±2), about 580 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Belmont
In Belmont, 45 percent of homes heat with electricity and 51 percent with piped gas; forced air from either moves through ducts.
Air sealing comes first, as the EPA advises: wire and pipe holes, wall tops and soffits.
How Homes Here Are Heated
- Electricity: 45% (±4), about 2,900 households; Gaston County: 57%
- Piped gas: 51% (±5), about 3,300 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 2% (±1), about 100 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Carolinas supplies Belmont's electricity. For gas, Belmont is in the Gaston County franchise of Enbridge Gas North Carolina, and 51 percent of the city's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Belmont homes: 45 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Belmont: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Belmont, check its current terms; the Gaston County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Belmont
In a Belmont attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Belmont attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Belmont
Nearest to Belmont first.
McAdenville, NC
4 miles northwest
Median home built 2010 (Belmont: 2002); 960 people, under a tenth of Belmont's population
Attic insulation in McAdenvilleLowell, NC
5 miles northwest
3,939 people, about a quarter of Belmont's population
Attic insulation in LowellMount Holly, NC
7 miles north
Median home built 1999 (Belmont: 2002)
Attic insulation in Mount HollyRanlo, NC
7 miles northwest
4,848 people, about a third of Belmont's population
Attic insulation in Ranlo
Belmont Insulation FAQs
Will the National Register listing stop me from insulating my Belmont attic?
No. Being on the National Register limits nothing an owner does with private funds, the state preservation office says. The town has two listed districts, the Belmont Historic District and the Belmont Abbey Historic District, and the state's commission list of 2023 shows no local commission for the city. Insulating and air sealing happen inside the house. Adding roof or soffit vents changes the outside, so ask the city first whether any local designation applies.
What should I expect in the attic of an old Belmont mill house?
Expect a house that has been changed, maybe more than once. The 1996 district nomination left out the mill villages on the north and east sides of town. They had seen heavy alteration, and some demolition, in the decades after World War II. An addition or a new roof can leave its own separate attic space with its own leaks. We look over every roof section, measure what is up there, and check any chimney and the wiring before adding insulation.
Could the old insulation in a Belmont attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 23 percent of Belmont's homes predate 1960. If a Belmont attic holds a pebble-like gray-brown or silver-gold fill, leave it undisturbed: the EPA says vermiculite may contain asbestos.
Does attic insulation in Belmont need a permit?
Belmont City Hall can say whether Gaston County Building Inspections, the city itself or another office handles permits in Belmont; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Median home built 2002: bonus rooms over garages
- Power from Duke Energy Carolinas: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Belmont, NOAA normals for the Charlotte Douglas Airport station, Duke Energy Carolinas (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Belmont notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Belmont Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Belmont, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Building Construction Problem Areas, weatherization training text, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Belmont city, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
- Floor Above Garage, Building America Solution Center (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)
- What Is the National Register of Historic Places?, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- NC Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- Historic Preservation Commission Staff in North Carolina, listed by county, as of 2/20/2023 (NC HPO)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-947, Certificate of appropriateness required
- Adding Attic Insulation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
Belmont, NC
Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Serving Belmont, NC
Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Belmont and the rest of Gaston County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Belmont attic, or call (336) 870-3893.