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Trent Woods, NC
2 miles southwest
Median home built 1977 (New Bern: 1989); Power from Duke Energy Progress (New Bern: a town system)
Attic insulation in Trent WoodsInsulation Contractor Serving New Bern, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for New Bern, NC, in Craven County, plus removal and air sealing.
About New Bern and Its Homes
New Bern was settled in 1710 by Swiss and Palatine colonists where the Neuse and Trent Rivers meet, and it later served as the colonial capital. Its houses run from Federal town houses downtown to bungalows in Ghent and Cape Cods in DeGraffenried Park, and each type hides a different attic.
New Bern, in Craven County, grew from 31,343 people in 2020 to 34,724 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 28.5 square miles. No town in Craven County has more people than New Bern.
New Bern has about 16,800 housing units, 35 percent of Craven County's; 60 percent of the city's households own their home.
New Bern at a Glance
- County: Craven County
- Population: 34,724 (2025), 31,343 (2020), up 10.8%
- Land area: 28.5 square miles (1,220 people each)
- Housing units: about 16,800 (±562)
- Median year built: 1989 (±2); Craven County: 1989
- Owner-occupied: 60% (±4); Craven County: 68%
- Detached houses: 64% (±3); Craven County: 68%
- Attached houses: 5% (±2)
- Apartments: 27% (±3)
- Mobile homes: 4% (±2)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for New Bern attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for New Bern, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
New Bern Homes and Their Attics
Federal Town Houses in the Old Town
The 1973 nomination for the New Bern Historic District sets out the town's typical Federal house. It stands two and a half stories on a side-hall plan two rooms deep, with gable dormers in a gable roof and chimneys built into the inside of the end walls. Builders here kept to that style into the 1840s, long after other towns moved on. In a house like this the top half story sits under the roof, and the chimneys rise past it. Where a chimney passes up through an attic floor, the opening gets a collar of aluminum flashing, sealed in with high-heat caulk. A metal dam then keeps loose insulation off the brick.
Riverside and Ghent, the First Suburbs
Riverside, laid out on farmland along the Neuse in 1894 and 1912, was New Bern's first suburb. Its 1988 nomination describes mostly frame houses, often two stories on a side-hall plan with a rear ell, under standing seam metal roofs. Ghent grew along a streetcar line that ran from 1913 to 1929, and its nomination calls the bungalow the main house form of its years from 1912 to 1941. A house from those decades may carry wiring older than 1930. Knob-and-tube circuits of that age can start a fire where insulation covers them, ENERGY STAR cautions, so an electrician looks first and nothing is blown in until it is dealt with.
Cape Cods and Wartime Cottages in DeGraffenried Park
DeGraffenried Park was platted in 1926 just north of Ghent, and nearly all of its houses went up between 1927 and the mid-1950s. Next to its two-story Colonial Revival houses, the nomination lists Cape Cods and a group of frame cottages built during World War II, nearly all one and a half stories. In that kind of house the second-floor rooms are tucked under the slope of the roof, with low side walls. Behind those knee walls lie narrow wedges of attic, which an Iowa state training text on problem areas in buildings calls often leaky. We seal and insulate those side pockets as well as the attic above the ceiling.
Attic Insulation in New Bern
Some 26 percent of New Bern's homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
From 1990 to 2009, 27 percent of New Bern homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
The Local Climate
New Bern's center sits near sea level, 3 miles from NOAA's New Bern Craven County Airport station, the best match for New Bern. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 2,700 heating and 1,900 cooling degree days a year, so New Bern attics work in both seasons.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 64 percent of New Bern housing units are detached single-family houses.
Built from 1970 to 1989, 26 percent of New Bern homes may hold settled fiberglass; check its depth against the joists.
About 35 percent of New Bern's housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too. Some 27 percent of New Bern units sit in buildings of two or more homes, where the attic is often shared.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 9% (±2), about 1,490 units
- 1940s: 6% (±1), about 940 units
- 1950s: 7% (±2), about 1,160 units
- 1960s: 4% (±1), about 750 units
- 1970s: 9% (±2), about 1,570 units
- 1980s: 16% (±2), about 2,800 units
- 1990s: 11% (±2), about 1,780 units
- 2000s: 17% (±2), about 2,800 units
- 2010s: 16% (±2), about 2,700 units
- 2020 or later: 5% (±2), about 860 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in New Bern
In New Bern, 68 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: 68% (±3), about 10,000 households; Craven County: 75%
- Piped gas: 27% (±3), about 3,900 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 4% (±1), about 520 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
New Bern, an ElectriCities public power town, runs its own electric system. For gas, New Bern is in the Craven County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and 27 percent of the city's homes heat with piped gas.
Program to ask about in New Bern: ElectriCities energy audits (the city's electric system), home energy audits for member-town customers; ask the city's utility office. Before a job in New Bern, check its current terms; the Craven County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in New Bern
In a New Bern attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that New Bern attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near New Bern
Nearest to New Bern first.
Bridgeton, NC
4 miles northeast
345 people, under a tenth of New Bern's population
Attic insulation in BridgetonRiver Bend, NC
5 miles southwest
Median home built 1985 (New Bern: 1989); 2,890 people, under a tenth of New Bern's population
Attic insulation in River BendPollocksville, NC
11 miles southwest
276 people, under a tenth of New Bern's population
Attic insulation in PollocksvilleGrantsboro, NC
13 miles east
728 people, under a tenth of New Bern's population
Attic insulation in Grantsboro
New Bern Insulation FAQs
My New Bern house is in a historic district. Does attic work need approval?
The insulation itself does not. The city's Historic Preservation Commission reviews exterior changes to contributing buildings in New Bern's locally designated historic districts. State law leaves the interior arrangement outside a commission's reach. Air sealing and insulating are done from inside. Adding roof or soffit vents alters the outside, so look at the city's district map and talk to the commission staff about that piece first. A National Register listing on its own places no limits on a private owner.
Hurricane Florence flooded parts of New Bern. Could it have wet my attic too?
Flood water is a matter for floors and walls. In the attic, the thing to look for is a roof leak. The National Hurricane Center's report on Florence in 2018 names New Bern among the hardest hit places. It puts river surge at up to about 11 feet above ground just upstream of downtown, with heavy rain across the east. Stained or damp insulation means water came through the roof, and ENERGY STAR says to fix that leak first. After that, we vacuum the soaked insulation out and blow in new.
Why does the room over my garage in New Bern swing hot and cold?
The likely cause is air moving through its floor and side walls. The Census figures on this page put most of the city's homes at 1970 or newer, so many attics in town belong to newer plans. The Building America Solution Center advises air sealing the floor above a garage whenever living space sits over it, with the insulation kept in full contact with the subfloor. The knee walls at the sides of the room are sealed and insulated too, and garage insulation is part of what we do.
Are there rebates for attic insulation in New Bern?
New Bern's municipal electric system lists no insulation rebate for New Bern on the pages we read; it does offer ElectriCities energy audits. Income-eligible New Bern households may qualify for Energy Saver North Carolina; check whether it has opened in Craven County. The Craven County page lists every other program.
Could the old insulation in a New Bern attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 21 percent of New Bern's homes predate 1960. If a New Bern attic holds a pebble-like gray-brown or silver-gold fill, leave it undisturbed: the EPA says vermiculite may contain asbestos.
How do I choose an insulation company in New Bern?
Compare written estimates for your New Bern attic listing air sealing, any removal and the added depth.
Does attic insulation in New Bern need a permit?
New Bern City Hall can say whether Craven County Inspections & Permitting, the city itself or another office handles permits in New Bern; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- A coastal town: attic condensation and mold
- An energy audit program from the city's own utility: home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for New Bern, NOAA normals for the New Bern Craven County Airport station, New Bern's municipal electric system (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the New Bern notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- City History, City of New Bern
- New Bern, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- New Bern Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Ghent Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- DeGraffenried Park Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Riverside Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Furnace Flues Require Special Sealing Techniques, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Building Construction Problem Areas, weatherization training text, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- About the Historic Preservation Commission, City of New Bern Development Services
- Historic Preservation, City of New Bern Development Services
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-947, Certificate of appropriateness required
- What Is the National Register of Historic Places?, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Florence (AL062018), 31 August to 17 September 2018, National Hurricane Center
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), New Bern city, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
- Floor Above Garage, Building America Solution Center (U.S. Department of Energy, PNNL)
New Bern, NC
Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Serving New Bern, NC
Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, New Bern and the rest of Craven County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your New Bern attic, or call (336) 870-3893.