Waco, NC
3 miles southwest
Power from Duke Energy Carolinas (Cherryville: a town system); 316 people, under a tenth of Cherryville's population
Attic insulation in WacoAttic Insulation in Cherryville, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Cherryville, NC, in Gaston County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Cherryville and Its Homes
Cherryville, in northwestern Gaston County, swapped the name White Pine for its own in 1865, after cherry trees along the old post road, and became a railroad and cotton mill town. Its mills built bungalows and one-story houses around 1919, and Queen Anne homes from the early 1900s stand along West Main Street.
Cherryville, in Gaston County, grew from 6,102 people in 2020 to 6,523 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 5.8 square miles. That makes Cherryville the fourth-largest town in Gaston County.
Cherryville has about 2,600 housing units, 3 percent of Gaston County's; about 70 percent of the city's households own their home.
Cherryville at a Glance
- County: Gaston County
- Population: 6,523 (2025), 6,102 (2020), up 6.9%
- Land area: 5.8 square miles (1,125 people each)
- Housing units: about 2,600 (±205)
- Median year built: 1970 (±6); Gaston County: 1982
- Owner-occupied: 70% (±6); Gaston County: 67%
- Detached houses: 83% (±5); Gaston County: 73%
- Apartments: 16% (±6)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Cherryville attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Cherryville, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Cherryville Homes and Their Attics
Mill Village Houses of 1919 and 1920
Cherryville's mills enlarged their villages right after World War I. The downtown district's nomination says Vivian Mills built gable- and hip-roofed bungalows with deep porches in 1918 and 1919. Rhyne-Houser put up twenty-five one-story houses on East Main and East First Streets. Cherryville Manufacturing laid out new streets of houses with electricity and running water. Wiring that went in during those years belongs to the knob-and-tube era. ENERGY STAR dates that wiring to before 1930 and treats it as a fire risk wherever insulation lies on it. If any of it is still in service, an electrician sorts it out before the attic is insulated.
Queen Anne Cottages on West Main Street
The 2016 nomination takes in seven houses beside downtown. Five date from 1901 to 1917 and mix Queen Anne and classical details, among them one-and-a-half-story frame cottages with hip-roofed main blocks, projecting gabled bays and wraparound porches. Under such a roof there may be several attic spaces: the big space under the hip and smaller pockets behind the gables. Where rooms reach up into the roof, there are side spaces behind knee walls too. Each pocket is reached and measured on its own. Where those spaces meet, the open framing is sealed, so the insulation can be spread evenly with no low spots.
Attic Insulation in Cherryville
About 50 percent of Cherryville's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
Built from 1940 to 1969, about 30 percent of Cherryville homes often have little insulation.
The Local Climate
Cherryville's center sits about 980 feet above sea level, 6 miles from NOAA's Lincolnton 4 W station, the best match for Cherryville. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,330 heating and 1,470 cooling degree days a year, so at Cherryville's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around Cherryville: NOAA's Vale Ag 2 SW station, 11 miles away, averages about 3,890 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 83 percent of Cherryville housing units are detached single-family houses.
From 1990 to 2009, about 25 percent of Cherryville homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
About 60 percent of Cherryville's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 17% (±5), about 460 units
- 1940s: 5% (±3), about 120 units
- 1950s: 14% (±5), about 380 units
- 1960s: 13% (±5), about 350 units
- 1970s: 11% (±4), about 295 units
- 1980s: 8% (±4), about 220 units
- 1990s: 14% (±5), about 360 units
- 2000s: 12% (±7), about 300 units
- 2010s: 5% (±3), about 140 units
- 2020 or later: under 1%
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Cherryville
In Cherryville, about 48 percent of homes heat with electricity and about 46 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: 48% (±9), about 1,110 households; Gaston County: 57%
- Piped gas: 46% (±9), about 1,060 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 3% (±3), about 70 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Cherryville, an ElectriCities public power town, runs its own electric system. For gas, Cherryville is in the Gaston County franchise of Enbridge Gas North Carolina, and about 46 percent of the city's homes heat with piped gas.
Program to ask about in Cherryville: ElectriCities energy audits (the city's electric system), home energy audits for member-town customers; ask the city's utility office. Before a job in Cherryville, check its current terms; the Gaston County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Cherryville
In a Cherryville attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Cherryville attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Cherryville
Nearest to Cherryville first.
Fallston, NC
8 miles northwest
Its NOAA station logs about 550 more heating degree days than Cherryville's; 635 people, about a tenth of Cherryville's population
Attic insulation in FallstonBessemer City, NC
9 miles southeast
Median home built 1968 (Cherryville: 1970)
Attic insulation in Bessemer CityHigh Shoals, NC
10 miles east
Median home built 1984 (Cherryville: 1970); Center about 210 feet lower than Cherryville's
Attic insulation in High Shoals
Cherryville Insulation FAQs
Can the downtown historic district stop work on my Cherryville house?
Not through the listing. The district, listed in 2016, is mostly stores and offices, though it takes in seven houses near the center of town. The State Historic Preservation Office states that National Register status puts no limits on private owners spending private funds. That office's 2023 roster shows no preservation commission for this city. Attic insulation and sealing are inside work in any case, but talk to the city before cutting new roof vents.
Was my Cherryville mill house built with any insulation in the attic?
Nothing on record says so. The downtown nomination describes the mill houses of 1918 to 1920 by their roofs, porches and utilities, and never mentions insulation. The housing figures on this page put roughly half of Cherryville's homes before 1970. The crew measures it in several spots, over each roof section, on the day of the job and before adding any.
Could the old insulation in a Cherryville attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 35 percent of Cherryville's homes predate 1960. If a Cherryville 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 Cherryville need a permit?
Cherryville City Hall can say whether Gaston County Building Inspections, the city itself or another office handles permits in Cherryville; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- An energy audit program from the city's own utility: home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Cherryville, NOAA normals for the Lincolnton 4 W station, Cherryville's municipal electric system (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Cherryville notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Cherryville, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- History, City of Cherryville
- Cherryville Downtown Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Adding Attic Insulation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- NC Listings in the National Register of Historic Places, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- What Is 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)
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Cherryville city, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
Cherryville, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Cherryville and the rest of Gaston County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Cherryville attic, or call (336) 870-3893.