Attic Insulation in Matthews, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Matthews, NC, in Mecklenburg County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Matthews and Its Homes
Matthews grew up around a depot that the railroad from Wilmington to Charlotte built in 1874 beside Fullwood's Store, a stagecoach stop, and took a railroad director's name in 1875. Brick stores later lined North Trade Street, and in recent decades subdivisions spread over the farmland around the town.
Matthews, in Mecklenburg County, grew from 29,517 people in 2020 to 32,769 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 17.1 square miles. That makes Matthews the fourth-largest town in Mecklenburg County.
Matthews has about 12,600 housing units, 3 percent of Mecklenburg County's; 64 percent of the town's households own their home.
Matthews at a Glance
- County: Mecklenburg County
- Population: 32,769 (2025), 29,517 (2020), up 11.0%
- Land area: 17.1 square miles (1,915 people each)
- Housing units: about 12,600 (±432)
- Median year built: 1994 (±1); Mecklenburg County: 1997
- Owner-occupied: 64% (±2); Mecklenburg County: 55%
- Detached houses: 62% (±3); Mecklenburg County: 55%
- Attached houses: 4% (±1)
- Apartments: 34% (±5)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Matthews attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Matthews, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Matthews Homes and Their Attics
Early Houses Near the Old Depot
Matthews stayed a small railroad town for most of a century, with only a few hundred people as late as 1960, a 1990 study of rural Mecklenburg County records. That study found parts of town with largely intact groups of early twentieth-century houses, some with fine details and some plain or partly remodeled. The commercial district's nomination adds that homes in the county's young railroad towns were mostly wood frame. Before insulating a house of that age, ENERGY STAR's advice is to seal the large openings first. Those are the holes where wiring and plumbing pass up into the attic, the chase around a furnace flue, and the attic hatch.
Subdivisions on the Farmland Around Matthews
By the late twentieth century the town was growing fast. The commercial district's nomination counts more than a million square feet of shopping plazas built or proposed around Matthews from 1986 to 1991. Subdivisions filled the old farmland at the edges of the county's towns. Houses from those years hide their own leaks. If the kitchen has a dropped soffit above the cabinets, it may be open to the attic, and it is sealed from above before insulating. If the ceilings have recessed lights not rated for insulation contact, insulation stays 3 inches away from them. Fixtures rated IC can be covered.
Attic Insulation in Matthews
Some 8 percent of Matthews' homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
From 1990 to 2009, 38 percent of Matthews homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
The Local Climate
Matthews' center sits about 730 feet above sea level, 9 miles from NOAA's Monroe Airport station, the best match for Matthews. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,060 heating and 1,710 cooling degree days a year, so at Matthews' station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 62 percent of Matthews housing units are detached single-family houses.
Built from 1970 to 1989, 34 percent of Matthews homes may hold settled fiberglass; check its depth against the joists.
About 18 percent of Matthews' housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too. Some 34 percent of Matthews units sit in buildings of two or more homes, where the attic is often shared.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 1% (±1), about 100 units
- 1940s: under 1%
- 1950s: 2% (±2), about 310 units
- 1960s: 4% (±1), about 540 units
- 1970s: 10% (±2), about 1,320 units
- 1980s: 23% (±3), about 2,900 units
- 1990s: 22% (±2), about 2,800 units
- 2000s: 16% (±3), about 1,970 units
- 2010s: 16% (±4), about 2,100 units
- 2020 or later: 5% (±1), about 570 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Matthews
In Matthews, 48 percent of homes heat with electricity and 50 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% (±4), about 5,700 households; Mecklenburg County: 52%
- Piped gas: 50% (±3), about 5,900 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 1% (±1), about 150 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Carolinas serves most of Matthews, Union Power Cooperative its edges; your bill says which. For gas, Matthews is in the Mecklenburg County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and 50 percent of the town's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Matthews homes: 48 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Matthews: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Matthews, check its current terms; the Mecklenburg County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Matthews
In a Matthews attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Matthews attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Matthews
Nearest to Matthews first.
Indian Trail, NC
5 miles southeast
Median home built 2004 (Matthews: 1994)
Attic insulation in Indian TrailHemby Bridge, NC
5 miles east
Median home built 1975 (Matthews: 1994); 1,764 people, under a tenth of Matthews' population
Attic insulation in Hemby BridgeLake Park, NC
5 miles southeast
Median home built 1997 (Matthews: 1994); 3,609 people, about a ninth of Matthews' population
Attic insulation in Lake ParkMint Hill, NC
5 miles northeast
Median home built 1992 (Matthews: 1994)
Attic insulation in Mint Hill
Matthews Insulation FAQs
Does the historic district in downtown Matthews limit work on my house?
No. The district is a short row of brick stores on North Trade Street, and the R. F. Outen Pottery is listed separately. Even inside a listed district, the state preservation office explains, the listing sets no rules for what an owner does to a house at private expense. The state's 2023 list shows Matthews without a preservation commission of its own. Only a house designated as a local landmark would need approval for outside changes.
Did state law require insulation when my Matthews house was built?
It did if construction began on or after January 1, 1978. Since then, state law has barred moving into a new house until it meets the state's insulation standards, where the county or city enforces them. Most homes here are from 1970 or later, yet a house framed in the early 1970s still came before that rule. Either way, what counts is what the attic holds now, and that gets measured on install day before anything is added.
My Matthews cottage has a tall hip roof. Why is the insulation thin at the edges?
Because the roof comes down low at the outside walls. The 1990 county study placed Matthews among the towns with the most Queen Anne houses, with the typical one a single story under a high hip or cross-gabled roof. Even a tall roof leaves little height at the eaves. ENERGY STAR notes that the middle of an attic is often covered while the eaves get very little. We bring the edges up to depth after fitting baffles that hold the soffit vents open.
Does attic insulation in Matthews need a permit?
Matthews Town Hall can say whether Mecklenburg County Code Enforcement, the town itself or another office handles permits in Matthews; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy Carolinas: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Matthews, NOAA normals for the Monroe Airport station, Duke Energy Carolinas (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Matthews notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Matthews Commercial Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Matthews, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Historic and Architectural Resources of Rural Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, National Register multiple property documentation form (NC HPO)
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Sealing Air Leaks in the Attic, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- Attic Insulation 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)
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-947, Certificate of appropriateness required
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-139.2, Enforcement of insulation requirements; certificate for occupancy
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Matthews town, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
- Adding Attic Insulation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- About Attic Ventilation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
Matthews, NC
Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Serving Matthews, NC
Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Matthews and the rest of Mecklenburg County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Matthews attic, or call (336) 870-3893.