Attic Insulation in Dunn, NC

Dunn Homes and Their Attics

Large Early 1900s Houses in Central Dunn

The 2008 Harnett County survey describes a Central Dunn residential district south of Cumberland Street, roughly between West Divine and West Pope streets, full of large, stylish houses. The examples it describes run from 1908 into the 1920s, and several have hip roofs over the main block, one of them enlarged by two-story and one-story wings at the back. A brick foursquare there from about 1915 has four interior chimneys. Under a roof like that, every chimney and every wing is its own job. Where a chimney rises through the ceiling, its gap gets metal and heat-rated caulk before any insulation goes down, and each wing attic is measured separately.

Electric Power in Dunn Homes From 1902

Dunn had electric streetlights by 1888, and in 1902 the town built its own generating plant and began selling power to homes, the commercial district's nomination records. So a Dunn house from the first decades of the century may have been wired very early, possibly with knob-and-tube. The county survey notes that old houses across Harnett County have often had their wiring updated, but nobody should assume it. ENERGY STAR treats pre-1930 knob-and-tube as a fire hazard when insulation buries it. An electrician confirms whether any of it is still live before we add insulation.

Craftsman Houses With Rooms Under Big Dormers

Several of the Central Dunn houses in the survey put living space in the roof. The survey describes a Craftsman house on South Orange Avenue with a steep side-gable roof and large gable dormers front and back. A shingled house of about 1916 on West Pearsall Street has one very wide shed dormer, and a story-and-a-half Tudor Revival house stands on North Ellis Avenue. Where upper rooms like these have knee walls, the low attic spaces behind them are a known air leak. Each one gets sealed and insulated, with the floor framing beneath it.