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Belmont, NC
2 miles east
Median home built 2002 (Cramerton: 2001); 16,415 people, about 3 times Cramerton's population
Attic insulation in BelmontAttic Insulation in Cramerton, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Cramerton, NC, 2 miles from Belmont, plus removal and air sealing.
About Cramerton and Its Homes
Cramerton started in 1906 as Mayesworth, a mill village beside the South Fork Catawba River, and Stuart Cramer made it a model village with paved streets, electricity and indoor plumbing. The mill company owned the town until it sold to Burlington Mills in 1946, and Cramerton was not incorporated until 1967.
Cramerton, in Gaston County, grew from 5,328 people in 2020 to 5,713 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 4.64 square miles.
Cramerton has about 2,600 housing units, 3 percent of Gaston County's; 62 percent of the town's households own their home.
Cramerton at a Glance
- County: Gaston County
- Population: 5,713 (2025), 5,328 (2020), up 7.2%
- Land area: 4.64 square miles (1,231 people each)
- Housing units: about 2,600 (±197)
- Median year built: 2001 (±3); Gaston County: 1982
- Owner-occupied: 62% (±6); Gaston County: 67%
- Detached houses: 65% (±4); Gaston County: 73%
- Attached houses: 9% (±3)
- Apartments: 25% (±8)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Cramerton attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Cramerton, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Cramerton Homes and Their Attics
Model Mill Houses With Indoor Bathrooms
The Mayworth School nomination credits Stuart Cramer with some of the first mill village houses that had bathrooms inside. He built them to suit each family, and a family that did not want an indoor bathroom could go without. A bathroom needs a plumbing vent pipe, which usually climbs through the ceiling and out the roof. ENERGY STAR counts the holes around such pipes among the attic leaks to seal before insulating. A bath or kitchen fan should carry its air outdoors through a duct, not dump its damp air into the attic.
Pyramidal Cottages in the Baltimore Neighborhood
Cramer housed his African American employees apart, in the Baltimore neighborhood across the South Fork from the main village, on an isolated tract on the side of Cramer Mountain. The county's 2000 survey of African American resources describes its houses as one-story pyramidal cottages and steeply hipped frame houses with corner porches and cross gables. Under a pyramid roof, the attic peaks at the center and narrows to very little height along every outside wall. Insulation has to run out to all four edges without covering the soffit vents, which rafter baffles hold open.
Cramer Mountain and the Newer Town
In 1984 the mountain and the land around it were sold, and a championship golf course and country club ringed by mountainside homes followed, the town's history page says. Measured by the Census figures on this page, most of Cramerton's homes date from 1970 or later. In a newer house, check the top-floor ceilings for recessed can lights. An IC rating means a can may touch insulation. Without one, ENERGY STAR wants insulation kept 3 inches or more away from it, and a metal or mesh barrier keeps blown insulation back.
Attic Insulation in Cramerton
About 25 percent of Cramerton's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
From 1990 to 2009, about 35 percent of Cramerton homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
The Local Climate
Cramerton's center sits about 610 feet above sea level, 4 miles from NOAA's Gastonia station, the best match for Cramerton. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,000 heating and 1,850 cooling degree days a year, so at Cramerton's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 65 percent of Cramerton housing units are detached single-family houses.
In 2010 or later, about 30 percent of Cramerton homes went up; check their air sealing as well as the depth.
About 30 percent of Cramerton's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too. About 25 percent of Cramerton units sit in buildings of two or more homes, where the attic is often shared.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 19% (±5), about 490 units
- 1940s: 3% (±2), about 80 units
- 1950s: 2% (±1), about 50 units
- 1960s: 2% (±2), about 55 units
- 1970s: 4% (±2), about 95 units
- 1980s: 6% (±3), about 155 units
- 1990s: 10% (±4), about 270 units
- 2000s: 26% (±7), about 670 units
- 2010s: 22% (±7), about 560 units
- 2020 or later: 6% (±3), about 170 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Cramerton
In Cramerton, about 40 percent of homes heat with electricity and 55 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: 40% (±8), about 950 households; Gaston County: 57%
- Piped gas: 55% (±6), about 1,290 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Carolinas supplies Cramerton's electricity. For gas, Cramerton is in the Gaston County franchise of Enbridge Gas North Carolina, and 55 percent of the town's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Cramerton homes: about 40 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Cramerton: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Cramerton, check its current terms; the Gaston County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Cramerton
In a Cramerton attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Cramerton attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Cramerton
Nearest to Cramerton first.
McAdenville, NC
2 miles north
Median home built 2010 (Cramerton: 2001); 960 people, about a sixth of Cramerton's population
Attic insulation in McAdenvilleLowell, NC
4 miles northwest
Center about 170 feet higher than Cramerton's
Attic insulation in LowellGastonia, NC
6 miles west
Median home built 1978 (Cramerton: 2001); Power from its own town system (Cramerton: Duke Energy Carolinas)
Attic insulation in Gastonia
Cramerton Insulation FAQs
Is my Cramerton mill village house on a historic register?
Probably not. The one National Register listing in Cramerton is Mayworth School, listed in 2002. The county's 2000 African American resources survey reported the Baltimore community on the state's study list as a possible district, which is an early step, not a listing. No commission for Cramerton appears on the state's 2023 commission roster. As far as these records go, attic work here faces no historic review. The town office can confirm it for your street.
Did the mill insulate the Cramerton village houses before selling them?
No record we found says so. Burlington Mills bought the village in 1946 and then sold off the town's buildings, the Mayworth School nomination records. North Carolina's insulation requirement for new houses applies only to those begun from January 1, 1978, so nothing obliged the mill. We check the insulation depth across the main roof and any rear wing, then seal the ceiling leaks before adding more.
Could the old insulation in a Cramerton attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 24 percent of Cramerton's homes predate 1960. If a Cramerton 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 Cramerton need a permit?
Cramerton Town Hall can say whether Gaston County Building Inspections, the town itself or another office handles permits in Cramerton; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Median home built 2001: a hot upstairs and bonus rooms over garages
- Power from Duke Energy Carolinas: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Cramerton, NOAA normals for the Gastonia station, Duke Energy Carolinas (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Cramerton notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Cramerton, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Town History, Town of Cramerton
- Mayworth School, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Gaston County's African American Built Environment Under Jim Crow (Gaston County African American Resources Survey, 2000), NC HPO
- About Attic Ventilation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Cramerton town, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
- 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. 143-139.2, Enforcement of insulation requirements; certificate for occupancy
Cramerton, NC
Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Serving Cramerton, NC
Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Cramerton and the rest of Gaston County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Cramerton attic, or call (336) 870-3893.