Swepsonville, NC
3 miles southeast
2,632 people, about an eighth of Graham's population
Attic insulation in SwepsonvilleAttic Insulation in Graham, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Graham, NC, in Alamance County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Graham and Its Homes
Graham was laid out in 1849 to be the seat of the new Alamance County and was named for William Graham, governor from 1845 to 1849. Its oldest recorded houses are near the courthouse square, along West Elm Street and in the North Main Street neighborhood.
Graham, in Alamance County, grew from 17,166 people in 2020 to 20,131 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 10.7 square miles. That makes Graham the third-largest town in Alamance County.
Graham has about 8,900 housing units, 12 percent of Alamance County's; 53 percent of the city's households own their home.
Graham at a Glance
- County: Alamance County
- Population: 20,131 (2025), 17,166 (2020), up 17.3%
- Land area: 10.7 square miles (1,885 people each)
- Housing units: about 8,900 (±461)
- Median year built: 1987 (±5); Alamance County: 1988
- Owner-occupied: 53% (±5); Alamance County: 65%
- Detached houses: 66% (±4); Alamance County: 66%
- Attached houses: 3% (±1)
- Apartments: 28% (±5)
- Mobile homes: 3% (±1)
- Climate zone: 4 (state code), 3 (2021 map)
- ENERGY STAR target for Graham attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Graham, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Graham Homes and Their Attics
Chimneys Along North Main Street
The North Main Street Historic District is the most intact residential area north of Graham's business district. Its 1999 nomination dates its houses from the 1850s to 1949, from two houses of the town's founding years to Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Craftsman homes. Interior brick chimneys turn up again and again in its inventory. Where such a chimney climbs through the attic, the framed opening around it can leave a wide gap, and heated air escapes up through it in winter. That opening is closed with metal flashing and high-temperature caulk, not foam. A metal dam then holds the insulation back, since codes usually call for 2 inches of space around masonry.
Hip-Roofed Cottages and Kit Bungalows
The same district has three early twentieth-century frame cottages in a row, each a story and a half under a pyramidal hip roof. Several of its Craftsman houses were kit houses from the Aladdin Homes Company, which had a factory in Wilmington. Some of its bungalows are also a story and a half with dormers. When bedrooms sit up under the roof like this, the low walls at the sides of each room hide small attics of their own. An Iowa state training text on house construction calls those wedge-shaped spaces behind the knee walls a common source of leaks. They get sealed and insulated too, or the upstairs rooms can stay hot in summer even with plenty over the ceiling.
Attic Insulation in Graham
Some 34 percent of Graham's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
Built from 1940 to 1969, 29 percent of Graham homes often have little insulation.
The Local Climate
Graham's center sits about 640 feet above sea level, 2 miles from NOAA's Haw River 1 E station, the best match for Graham. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,550 heating and 1,590 cooling degree days a year, so at Graham's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Readings change over short distances around Graham: NOAA's Burlington Fire Station 5, 3 miles away, averages about 3,290 heating degree days.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 66 percent of Graham housing units are detached single-family houses.
From 1990 to 2009, 29 percent of Graham homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
About 45 percent of Graham's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too. Some 28 percent of Graham units sit in buildings of two or more homes, where the attic is often shared.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 5% (±1), about 480 units
- 1940s: 6% (±2), about 540 units
- 1950s: 13% (±3), about 1,160 units
- 1960s: 10% (±3), about 900 units
- 1970s: 10% (±2), about 910 units
- 1980s: 8% (±2), about 690 units
- 1990s: 14% (±3), about 1,270 units
- 2000s: 14% (±4), about 1,290 units
- 2010s: 16% (±3), about 1,420 units
- 2020 or later: 3% (±2), about 280 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Graham
In Graham, 44 percent of homes heat with electricity and 53 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: 44% (±5), about 3,500 households; Alamance County: 52%
- Piped gas: 53% (±4), about 4,300 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy supplies Graham's electricity. For gas, Graham is in the Alamance County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and 53 percent of the city's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Graham homes: 44 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Graham: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Graham, check its current terms; the Alamance County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Graham
In a Graham attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Graham attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Graham
Nearest to Graham first.
Haw River, NC
3 miles northeast
2,425 people, about an eighth of Graham's population
Attic insulation in Haw RiverBurlington, NC
5 miles west
Median home built 1978 (Graham: 1987); Its NOAA station logs about 260 fewer heating degree days than Graham's
Attic insulation in BurlingtonGreen Level, NC
5 miles northeast
Median home built 1986 (Graham: 1987); 3,409 people, about a sixth of Graham's population
Attic insulation in Green LevelAlamance, NC
6 miles west
Median home built 2001 (Graham: 1987); Its NOAA station logs about 280 fewer heating degree days than Graham's
Attic insulation in Alamance
Graham Insulation FAQs
Is North Main Street in Graham a local historic district?
No. It is a National Register district, listed in 1999, and that is a different thing. The city's Historic Resources Commission oversees one local district, Courthouse Square, designated in 1980, plus two local landmarks. Inside that district, changes to the outside of a building need a certificate of appropriateness, and small ones can be approved by staff. A National Register listing on its own puts no limits on a private owner. Either way, the attic work itself happens indoors. Only new vents or other outside changes in Courthouse Square would go to review.
My Graham house is more than a century old. What comes before new insulation?
A look at the wiring and the roof first. The National Register surveys of Graham's older streets date houses there from the 1850s through the early 1900s. ENERGY STAR says knob-and-tube wiring from before 1930 is a fire risk when insulation covers it, so an electrician checks for it. It also treats damp insulation as a sign of a roof leak, which gets fixed before anything new goes in. Then we seal the attic floor and insulate.
Could the old insulation in a Graham attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 24 percent of Graham's homes predate 1960. If a Graham 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 Graham need a permit?
Graham City Hall can say whether Alamance County Inspections, the city itself or another office handles permits in Graham; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Graham, NOAA normals for the Haw River 1 E station, Duke Energy (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Graham notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Graham, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Graham Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- North Main Street Historic District (Graham), National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Furnace Flues Require Special Sealing Techniques, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- Building Construction Problem Areas, weatherization training text, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Historic Resources Commission (HRC), City of Graham
- What Is the National Register of Historic Places?, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-947, Certificate of appropriateness required
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
Graham, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Graham and the rest of Alamance County included.
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Send the square footage of your Graham attic, or call (336) 870-3893.