Pinehurst, NC
4 miles west
Median home built 1995 (Southern Pines: 1996)
Attic insulation in PinehurstAttic Insulation in Southern Pines, NC
Blown-in attic insulation for Southern Pines, NC, 4 miles from Pinehurst, plus removal and air sealing.
About Southern Pines and Its Homes
Southern Pines was incorporated on March 7, 1887, and grew into a winter and health resort on the grid of broad streets that its founder, John Patrick, laid out beside the railroad. Its historic district runs from small cottages near the tracks to large period houses of the 1920s on the Weymouth Heights ridge.
Southern Pines, in Moore County, grew from 15,706 people in 2020 to 17,357 in 2025 (Census Bureau estimates), on 17.7 square miles. That makes Southern Pines the second-largest town in Moore County.
Southern Pines has about 8,600 housing units, 17 percent of Moore County's; 57 percent of the town's households own their home.
Southern Pines at a Glance
- County: Moore County
- Population: 17,357 (2025), 15,706 (2020), up 10.5%
- Land area: 17.7 square miles (982 people each)
- Housing units: about 8,600 (±462)
- Median year built: 1996 (±4); Moore County: 1994
- Owner-occupied: 57% (±3); Moore County: 76%
- Detached houses: 53% (±4); Moore County: 74%
- Attached houses: 10% (±3)
- Apartments: 34% (±6)
- Mobile homes: 3% (±2)
- Climate zone: 3 on both maps
- ENERGY STAR target for Southern Pines attics: R-49 from bare, R-38 over 3 to 4 inches (R-value guide)
Census Bureau estimates for Southern Pines, 2020 to 2024 (± margin of error).
Southern Pines Homes and Their Attics
Shingled Cottages Built Before the First World War
The Southern Pines Historic District's nomination covers houses from 1883 to 1941. It describes a large group of small, wood-shingled cottages and bungalows built before World War I, many of them south of Broad Street, the earliest from 1897. A house wired in those years may still have some of its first wiring in the attic. Per ENERGY STAR, wiring of the knob-and-tube type, from before about 1930, is a fire risk once insulation is packed against it. If you see porcelain knobs or tubes up there, an electrician deals with that wiring first, and any run still live stays uncovered.
Back Lot Apartments and Garage Quarters
The same nomination found a good number of small garages from 1915 to 1930, and at the rear of a number of houses a small detached apartment. Some were built as utility apartments or servants' quarters, and others were converted from garages. A few of the larger houses at the south end have garages with quarters built in. Where a room sits over a garage, its floor is part of the heated shell of the house. Building America's guidance is to air seal that floor and keep the insulation pressed against the subfloor above it. We insulate garages too, as a separate job.
Attic Insulation in Southern Pines
Some 21 percent of Southern Pines' homes predate 1970; if your joists show above the insulation, ENERGY STAR says to add more insulation.
In 2010 or later, 34 percent of Southern Pines homes went up; check their air sealing as well as the depth.
The Local Climate
Southern Pines' center sits about 500 feet above sea level, 11 miles from NOAA's Carthage Water Plant station, the best match for Southern Pines. The station's 1991 to 2020 normals average about 3,170 heating and 1,640 cooling degree days a year, so at Southern Pines' station, heating needs outweigh cooling.
NOAA estimated part of the Carthage Water Plant station's normals from nearby stations, so treat them as approximate.
Homes by Age: What It Means for the Attic
Some 53 percent of Southern Pines housing units are detached single-family houses.
From 1990 to 2009, 25 percent of Southern Pines homes were built to codes below ENERGY STAR's target; check their eaves, where ENERGY STAR says insulation is often thinnest.
About 34 percent of Southern Pines' housing units predate 1980; nearly all predate the state's 1978 insulation rule too. Some 34 percent of Southern Pines units sit in buildings of two or more homes, where the attic is often shared.
Homes by Year Built
- Before 1940: 8% (±2), about 700 units
- 1940s: 2% (±1), about 130 units
- 1950s: 5% (±2), about 410 units
- 1960s: 7% (±3), about 600 units
- 1970s: 13% (±3), about 1,100 units
- 1980s: 8% (±2), about 660 units
- 1990s: 15% (±4), about 1,270 units
- 2000s: 10% (±3), about 840 units
- 2010s: 29% (±5), about 2,500 units
- 2020 or later: 4% (±2), about 380 units
Air Sealing and Duct Sealing in Southern Pines
In Southern Pines, 78 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: 78% (±5), about 5,800 households; Moore County: 81%
- Piped gas: 14% (±3), about 1,070 households
- Bottled or tank gas: 4% (±2), about 320 households
- Oil or kerosene: 3% (±2), about 205 households
Power, Gas and Rebates
Duke Energy Progress supplies Southern Pines' electricity. For gas, Southern Pines is in the Moore County franchise of Piedmont Natural Gas, and 14 percent of the town's homes heat with piped gas. Duke's free House Call fits many Southern Pines homes: 78 percent heat with electricity.
Rebate to check in Southern Pines: Smart $aver Insulate and Seal (Duke Energy; Insulation Pros is an approved trade ally). Before a job in Southern Pines, check its current terms; the Moore County page lists every program.
Attic Insulation Removal in Southern Pines
In a Southern Pines attic, only wet, moldy or animal-soiled insulation is vacuumed out (ENERGY STAR's test), once the cause is fixed, and after mice that Southern Pines attic is sanitized and deodorized; dry, clean insulation stays.
Also Serving Near Southern Pines
Nearest to Southern Pines first.
Whispering Pines, NC
4 miles north
Median home built 2001 (Southern Pines: 1996); 5,505 people, about a third of Southern Pines' population
Attic insulation in Whispering PinesAberdeen, NC
4 miles southwest
Median home built 2003 (Southern Pines: 1996); Center about 170 feet lower than Southern Pines'
Attic insulation in AberdeenTaylortown, NC
6 miles west
701 people, under a tenth of Southern Pines' population
Attic insulation in TaylortownPinebluff, NC
7 miles southwest
1,571 people, under a tenth of Southern Pines' population
Attic insulation in Pinebluff
Southern Pines Insulation FAQs
Does the Southern Pines historic district commission review attic insulation?
No. The commission reviews outside changes to buildings in the town's designated local district and issues certificates of appropriateness for them. A 2010 survey update made for the town describes that district, created in 1995, as the commercial and institutional core, smaller than the National Register district and inside it. Insulating and air sealing an attic is inside work. Cutting new roof or soffit vents is outside work, though, so ask the town first whether your building is in the local district.
I rent out an older Southern Pines house. Can I have its attic insulated?
Yes, since that choice belongs to the owner. Renting is an old habit in Southern Pines. The town's 2010 survey update says many people stationed at nearby Fort Bragg lived here during World War II. As the post kept growing, many hotels and boarding houses were turned into apartments. In a building split into units, one attic can sit over several apartments, so we look at all of it, not only the part over one tenant.
Does attic insulation in Southern Pines need a permit?
Southern Pines Town Hall can say whether Moore County Inspections & Permitting, the town itself or another office handles permits in Southern Pines; ask before work starts.
Helpful Guides
- Power from Duke Energy Progress: high summer electric bills and home energy audits
Sources
Census Bureau figures for Southern Pines, NOAA normals for the Carthage Water Plant station, Duke Energy Progress (October 2026). Compiled by Insulation Pros. How the town pages are made.
Sources for the Southern Pines notes and questions (read October 20, 2026):
- History, Town of Southern Pines
- Southern Pines Historic District Survey Update Report, February 2010 (Hanbury Preservation Consulting for the Town of Southern Pines; NC HPO survey reports)
- Southern Pines Historic District, National Register nomination (NC HPO)
- Attic Insulation Project, ENERGY STAR
- Floor Above Garage, Building America Solution Center (U.S. Department of Energy, PNNL)
- Historic District Commission, Town of Southern Pines
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 160D-947, Certificate of appropriateness required
Southern Pines, NC
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Insulation Pros is an insulation contractor serving North Carolina, Southern Pines and the rest of Moore County included.
Reach us
Send the square footage of your Southern Pines attic, or call (336) 870-3893.