Roanoke Rapids, NC
3 miles south
14,386 people, about 15 times Gaston's population
Attic insulation in Roanoke RapidsAttic Insulation in Gaston, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Gaston, NC, 3 miles from Roanoke Rapids, plus removal and air sealing.
About Gaston and Its Homes
Gaston, on the north bank of the Roanoke River, was a settlement called Camp's Store until it was incorporated in 1949. It borrowed the name of its township and of an older railroad town about five miles west, whose site now lies under water.
Gaston, in Northampton County, fell from 1,012 people in 2020 to 959 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 1.69 square miles. No town in Northampton County has more people than Gaston.
Gaston has about 480 housing units, 5 percent of Northampton County's; about 59 percent of the town's households own their home.
Gaston at a Glance
- County: Northampton County
- Population: 959 (2025), 1,012 (2020), down 5.2%
- Land area: 1.69 square miles (567 people each)
- Housing units: about 480 (±106)
- Owner-occupied: 59% (±9); Northampton County: 75%
- Detached houses: 59% (±12); Northampton County: 64%
- Apartments: under 18%
- Mobile homes: 33% (±11)
- Climate zone: 4 (state code), 3 (2021 map)
- ENERGY STAR target for Gaston attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Gaston, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Gaston Homes and Their Attics
Front-Gable Houses on Gate and Ashe Streets
Northampton County's 2010 survey points to a cluster of front-gable houses on Gate and Ashe Streets, on the east side of town. It uses them to show a type built across the county from the 1920s through the 1950s. These are one-story frame houses, one or two rooms wide and two or two and a half rooms deep, some with a shed at the back, under asphalt or standing-seam metal roofs. A gable facing the street over a narrow plan makes a long, slim attic that drops low along both side walls, and a rear shed adds a shallower space of its own. We bring both to an even depth, with baffles so the eave vents keep breathing.
Attic Insulation in Gaston
About 40 percent of Gaston's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
Built from 1940 to 1969, about 35 percent of Gaston homes often have little insulation.
The Local Climate
Gaston's center sits about 180 feet above sea level, 2 miles from NOAA's Roanoke Rapids station, the best match for Gaston. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,560 heating and 1,610 cooling degree days a year, so at Gaston's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around Gaston: NOAA's Roanoke Rapids Airport station, 6 miles away, averages about 3,260 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
From 1990 to 2009, about 35 percent of Gaston homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
About 50 percent of Gaston's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 5% (±4), about 25 units
- 1940s: 22% (±10), about 105 units
- 1950s: 10% (±6), about 45 units
- 1960s: 5% (±4), about 25 units
- 1970s: 9% (±7), about 45 units
- 1980s: 9% (±7), about 45 units
- 1990s: 27% (±10), about 130 units
- 2000s: 6% (±4), about 25 units
- 2010s: under 4%
- 2020 or later: under 12%, about 25 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Gaston
In Gaston, about 77 percent of homes heat with electricity; where that heat is forced air, ducts often run through the attic.
Air sealing comes first, as the EPA advises: wire and pipe holes, wall tops and soffits.
How Homes Here Are Heated
- Electricity: 77% (±12), about 300 households; Northampton County: 67%
- Piped gas: under 3%
- Bottled or tank gas: 17% (±10), about 65 households
- Oil or kerosene: 4% (±3), about 15 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Dominion Energy North Carolina serves most of Gaston, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative its edges; your bill says which. For gas, Gaston is in the Northampton County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, whose mains may not reach every street in Gaston. Dominion's rebate pays more for electrically heated homes, about 77 percent of Gaston's. Bottled or tank gas, bought by the delivery, heats about 17 percent of homes in Gaston.
Rebate to check in Gaston: Home Energy Evaluation (Dominion Energy's contractor network). Before a job in Gaston, check its current terms; the Northampton County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Gaston
In a Gaston attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Gaston attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Gaston
Nearest to Gaston first.
Halifax, NC
12 miles south
157 people, about a sixth of Gaston's population
Attic insulation in Halifax
Gaston Insulation FAQs
Is my house in Gaston part of a historic district?
No. The one National Register listing in town is the Gaston School, a flat-roofed brick campus begun about 1950, and it is not a district of houses. The state's 2023 directory of preservation commissions skips Northampton, which rules out a local design board as well. So a homeowner here can plan attic work without any historic review.
Did older houses here have to be built with attic insulation?
Not unless they were begun in 1978 or later. The state statute links insulation standards to occupancy for a new house whose construction started January 1, 1978 or after. About half of the local homes predate 1970, going by the housing numbers on this page. No rule set the insulation in those when they were built, so an attic can hold a lot or almost nothing, and only a measurement in several spots tells which.
Could the old insulation in a Gaston attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 35 percent of Gaston's homes predate 1960. If a Gaston 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 Gaston need a permit?
Gaston Town Hall can say whether Northampton County Building Inspections, the town itself or another office handles permits in Gaston; ask before work starts.
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Gaston, NOAA normals for the Roanoke Rapids station, Dominion Energy North Carolina (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Gaston notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Gaston, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Gaston School, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Northampton County Comprehensive Historic Architecture Survey, Phase II: Final Report (Cardinal Preservation Services, 2010), listed by the NC HPO as the Northampton County Survey
- Adding Attic Insulation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- About Attic Ventilation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- 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
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Gaston town, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
Gaston, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Gaston and the rest of Northampton County included.
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Send the square footage of your Gaston attic, or call (336) 870-3893.