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Wake Forest, NC
4 miles northwest
Median home built 2009 (Rolesville: 2013); Its NOAA station logs about 650 more heating degree days than Rolesville's
Attic insulation in Wake ForestAttic Insulation in Rolesville, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Rolesville, NC, 4 miles from Wake Forest, plus removal and air sealing.
About Rolesville and Its Homes
Rolesville was chartered in 1837 where the Raleigh to Louisburg and Oxford to Smithfield roads crossed, one of only two incorporated towns in Wake County before the Civil War. It stayed small through the twentieth century, and most of its houses have gone up in 1970 or after.
Rolesville, in Wake County, grew from 9,719 people in 2020 to 12,839 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 6.11 square miles.
Rolesville has about 3,700 housing units, 1 percent of Wake County's; 93 percent of the town's households own their home.
Rolesville at a Glance
- County: Wake County
- Population: 12,839 (2025), 9,719 (2020), up 32.1%
- Land area: 6.11 square miles (2,101 people each)
- Housing units: about 3,700 (±262)
- Median year built: 2013 (±2); Wake County: 2000
- Owner-occupied: 93% (±5); Wake County: 64%
- Detached houses: 87% (±6); Wake County: 58%
- Attached houses: 6% (±4)
- Apartments: 5% (±5)
- Mobile homes: under 4%
- Climate zone: 4 (state code), 3 (2021 map)
- ENERGY STAR target for Rolesville attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Rolesville, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Rolesville Homes and Their Attics
Split-Levels on Brown Circle
Brown Circle, platted in 1966 southwest of downtown, has one entrance and a single loop road that follows the lay of the land, the 2016 county survey update records. Several of its houses are split-levels. A split-level puts the living rooms at the entry level and stacks bedrooms over a lower level, so its roofs sit at two heights. That can mean two separate attic spaces, each with its own depth of insulation. ENERGY STAR asks for an even blanket with no thin spots, and a house with two attics is easy to leave half done.
Ranch Houses on West Young and Perry Streets
Rolesville grew slowly in the 1950s and faster in the 1960s and 1970s, the survey found. Brick ranch houses built from 1953 to 1973 line part of West Young Street. The Perry Subdivision, platted in 1958 just southwest of downtown, filled with 22 houses between 1960 and 1970, mostly ranches. Some kitchens of those decades hide a boxed soffit over the upper cabinets. A guide from Iowa's state health department warns such boxes often connect straight to the attic. ENERGY STAR's fix works from above: pull back the insulation, cover the open box with a rigid panel, seal its edges, then insulate over it.
New Two-Story Houses on Former Farmland
From 2005 Rolesville was the fastest-growing municipality in North Carolina, the 2016 survey reported, and its newest streets look nothing like the old ones. Across West Young Street from the low ranches of the Weathers Subdivision, the survey found new subdivisions of two-story houses set close to the street on shallow lots. Upstairs bedrooms in houses like these have the attic right overhead. A hollow chase carrying ducts or a flue up through both floors can open into that attic. ENERGY STAR puts those chases on its short list of large leaks to close before any insulation is added.
Attic Insulation in Rolesville
If the joists show above the insulation in a Rolesville attic, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
In 2010 or later, about 65 percent of Rolesville homes went up; check their air sealing as well as the depth.
The Local Climate
Rolesville's center sits about 440 feet above sea level, 16 miles from NOAA's Raleigh State University station, the best match for Rolesville. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,170 heating and 1,780 cooling degree days a year, so at Rolesville's station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 87 percent of Rolesville housing units are detached single-family houses. With about 3,700 housing units in Rolesville, read the figures as rough proportions.
From 1990 to 2009, about 25 percent of Rolesville homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: under 7%, about 95 units
- 1940s: under 1%
- 1950s: under 1%
- 1960s: under 4%, about 70 units
- 1970s: under 1%, about 15 units
- 1980s: 5% (±3), about 165 units
- 1990s: 4% (±2), about 145 units
- 2000s: 22% (±6), about 810 units
- 2010s: 42% (±8), about 1,550 units
- 2020 or later: 22% (±5), about 800 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Rolesville
In Rolesville, about 27 percent of homes heat with electricity and about 68 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: 27% (±6), about 950 households; Wake County: 55%
- Piped gas: 68% (±8), about 2,400 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 4% (±3), about 140 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy serves most of Rolesville, Wake Electric its edges; your bill says which. For gas, Rolesville is in the Wake County franchise of Enbridge Gas North Carolina, and about 68 percent of the town's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Rolesville homes: about 27 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Rolesville: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Rolesville, check its current terms; the Wake County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Rolesville
In a Rolesville attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Rolesville attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Rolesville
Nearest to Rolesville first.
Youngsville, NC
7 miles north
Median home built 2007 (Rolesville: 2013); Power from Duke Energy Progress (Rolesville: Duke Energy)
Attic insulation in YoungsvilleKnightdale, NC
9 miles south
Median home built 2008 (Rolesville: 2013); Its NOAA station logs about 230 more heating degree days than Rolesville's
Attic insulation in KnightdaleRaleigh, NC
12 miles southwest
Median home built 1997 (Rolesville: 2013); 506,306 people, about 39 times Rolesville's population
Insulation contractor serving Raleigh
Rolesville Insulation FAQs
Does anything historic limit attic work on a house in Rolesville?
No, for nearly every house in town. Rolesville's only entry on the National Register is the house built around 1903 for Lawrence Branch Young, the town's physician, and the town has no listed district. No local preservation commission for Rolesville appears on the state's 2023 roster either. Even that one listed house carries no limits on its owner's own repairs. The State Historic Preservation Office explains that listing alone restricts nothing an owner pays for privately.
Were the 1960s ranches in the Perry Subdivision built with insulation in the attic?
No rule required it. Those houses went up between 1960 and 1970. The state law that made occupancy of a new home depend on meeting insulation standards covers only homes begun from January 1, 1978. Whatever is up there now may be original, added by later owners, or a mix of both. So the attic has to be seen, and the crew sees it with you on install day. They check the depth at several points, including over the far bedrooms.
Does attic insulation in Rolesville need a permit?
Rolesville Town Hall can say whether Wake County Permits and Inspections, the town itself or another office handles permits in Rolesville; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Median home built 2013: a hot upstairs and bonus rooms over garages
- Power from Duke Energy: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Rolesville, NOAA normals for the Raleigh State University station, Duke Energy (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Rolesville notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- Dr. Lawrence Branch Young House, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Henry H. and Bettie S. Knight Farm, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Rolesville, in The North Carolina Gazetteer (William S. Powell, 2nd ed., UNC Press 2010), NCpedia
- Wake County Municipalities Survey Update, 2016: Historic Resources in Knightdale, Rolesville, and Wendell (NC HPO)
- Year Structure Built (table B25034), Rolesville town, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, U.S. Census Bureau via Census Reporter
- Post-World War II and Modern Architecture in Raleigh, North Carolina, 1945-1965, National Register multiple property documentation form (NC HPO)
- Adding Attic Insulation, ENERGY STAR do-it-yourself guide
- Building Construction Problem Areas, Iowa Department of Health and Human Services weatherization program
- Attic Air Sealing Project, ENERGY STAR
- 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)
- What Is the National Register of Historic Places?, NC State Historic Preservation Office
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-139.2, Enforcement of insulation requirements; certificate for occupancy
Rolesville, NC
Open in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Serving Rolesville, NC
Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Rolesville and the rest of Wake County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Rolesville attic, or call (336) 870-3893.