Parmele, NC
3 miles west
Power from Dominion Energy North Carolina (Robersonville: a town system); 246 people, about a fifth of Robersonville's population
Attic insulation in ParmeleAttic Insulation in Robersonville, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Robersonville, NC, in Martin County, plus removal and air sealing.
About Robersonville and Its Homes
Robersonville was incorporated in 1870, reached by the railroad in 1882, and in 1900 opened the first tobacco market in Martin County. Its older houses, from steep-roofed Gothic cottages to tobacco-era homes, grew up along the rail line.
Robersonville, in Martin County, fell from 1,272 people in 2020 to 1,237 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 1.21 square miles. That makes Robersonville the second-largest town in Martin County.
Robersonville has about 760 housing units, 7 percent of Martin County's.
Robersonville at a Glance
- County: Martin County
- Population: 1,237 (2025), 1,272 (2020), down 2.8%
- Land area: 1.21 square miles (1,022 people each)
- Housing units: about 760 (±139)
- Median year built: 1964 (±3); Martin County: 1975
- Owner-occupied: 61% (±15); Martin County: 67%
- Detached houses: 83% (±10); Martin County: 68%
- Apartments: 14% (±7)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Robersonville attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Robersonville, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Robersonville Homes and Their Attics
Gothic Cottages and Queen Anne Roofs by the Tracks
After the railroad came in 1882, Robersonville laid out its new streets and houses along the tracks. A 2010 National Register nomination dates the town's surviving late Victorian houses from about 1885 to 1915, starting with Gothic Revival cottages under steep gable roofs with cross gables. The listed Queen Anne cottage it describes is a story and a half under a tall hip roof with a central tower. Roofs like these can split the attic into several pockets where the gables meet, and some hide short side attics next to upstairs rooms. Each pocket has to be reached, sealed and filled evenly, with no low spots left between them.
Tobacco Market Houses and Their Brick Chimneys
The tobacco market that opened on August 7, 1900 was soon followed by more warehouses. A tobacco businessman's two-story house built in 1913 and 1914, listed on the National Register in 1985, has a hipped slate roof with four brick chimneys rising through it. In the Queen Anne cottage of about 1900, two interior chimneys serve a fireplace in each main room. Where each one comes up through the attic floor, it leaves a gap beside the brick. We cover it with thin aluminum sheet sealed with caulk rated for high heat, and fence the brick off with a metal dam before any insulation is blown in around it.
Attic Insulation in Robersonville
If the joists show above the insulation in a Robersonville attic, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
The Local Climate
Robersonville's center sits about 70 feet above sea level, 12 miles from NOAA's Williamston 1 E station, the best match for Robersonville. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,030 heating and 1,770 cooling degree days a year, so at Robersonville's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
About 83 percent of Robersonville housing units are detached single-family houses. With about 760 housing units in Robersonville, read the figures as rough proportions.
Built before 1940, 14 percent of Robersonville homes can hide knob-and-tube wiring and vermiculite, jobs for an electrician and an asbestos contractor first. Built from 1970 to 1989, about 20 percent of Robersonville homes may hold settled fiberglass; check its depth against the joists.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 14% (±5), about 105 units
- 1940s: under 11%, about 40 units
- 1950s: 19% (±8), about 140 units
- 1960s: 33% (±13), about 245 units
- 1970s: 9% (±6), about 65 units
- 1980s: 12% (±6), about 85 units
- 1990s: under 6%, about 20 units
- 2000s: 6% (±4), about 50 units
- 2010s: under 2%
- 2020 or later: under 2%
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Robersonville
In Robersonville, about 43 percent of homes heat with electricity and 13 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: 43% (±10), about 260 households; Martin County: 66%
- Piped gas: 13% (±6), about 75 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Robersonville, an ElectriCities public power town, runs its own electric system. For gas, Robersonville is in the Martin County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and 13 percent of the town's homes heat with piped gas.
Program to ask about in Robersonville: ElectriCities energy audits (the town's electric system), home energy audits for member-town customers; ask the town's utility office. Before a job in Robersonville, check its current terms; the Martin County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Robersonville
In a Robersonville attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Robersonville attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Robersonville
Nearest to Robersonville first.
Everetts, NC
5 miles east
144 people, about a ninth of Robersonville's population
Attic insulation in EverettsHassell, NC
6 miles north
Power from Edgecombe-Martin County EMC (Robersonville: a town system); 47 people, under a tenth of Robersonville's population
Attic insulation in HassellBethel, NC
7 miles west
Median home built 1964, as in Robersonville; 1,422 people to Robersonville's 1,237
Attic insulation in BethelBear Grass, NC
8 miles southeast
81 people, under a tenth of Robersonville's population
Attic insulation in Bear Grass
Robersonville Insulation FAQs
Is my Robersonville house in a historic district?
No. None of Robersonville is a listed historic district. Its listings are four single buildings: two churches and two houses, from about 1900 and from 1913. Even for those four, the state preservation office says listing sets no rules for owners spending their own money. No preservation commission for Martin County appears on the state's 2023 list. So insulating your attic is your own decision.
Does the old kitchen wing behind my Robersonville house have its own attic?
It can. In the town's listed Queen Anne cottage, the kitchen and dining room were a two-room rear ell joined to the house by an open breezeway. That breezeway was closed in during the late 1950s. A wing like that sits under its own roof, so its attic is apart from the main one, and a closed-in breezeway can add a third ceiling to look at. We check each one for depth and open gaps before adding insulation.
Could the old insulation in a Robersonville attic be vermiculite?
It could: about 40 percent of Robersonville's homes predate 1960. If a Robersonville 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 Robersonville need a permit?
Robersonville Town Hall can say whether Martin County Building Inspections, the town itself or another office handles permits in Robersonville; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- An energy audit program from the town's own utility: home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Robersonville, NOAA normals for the Williamston 1 E station, Robersonville's municipal electric system (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Robersonville notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Robersonville, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Roberson-Everett-Roebuck House, National Register nomination, 2010 (NC HPO)
- W. J. Little House, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Adding Attic Insulation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- Furnace Flues Require Special Sealing Techniques, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- 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)
Robersonville, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Robersonville and the rest of Martin County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Robersonville attic, or call (336) 870-3893.