Spray Foam Insulation in Lawrence, IN

Spray foam insulation in Lawrence often starts with a house from the city's first big growth spurt. Wikipedia's census figures show Lawrence at 1,951 people in 1950, 10,103 in 1960 and 16,353 in 1970, then 38,915 in 2000 and 49,370 in 2020. The town was platted in 1849 as Lanesville and took the name Lawrence in 1866. Fort Benjamin Harrison, now inside Fort Harrison State Park, sits within the city. The postwar houses that went up in the 1950s and 1960s are now sixty to seventy years old.

What 1950s and 1960s houses need

Ranches and split-levels from that era were built with little insulation by today's standards. Attics often have a few inches of old fill. Walls may have thin batts or nothing. Many sit over vented crawl spaces with bare dirt and sagging floor batts, or over a partial basement with an open rim joist. The order we usually recommend is crawl space and rim first, then the attic, because cold floors and drafts at the bottom of the house drive a lot of discomfort.

Crawl spaces

An encapsulated crawl space, with vents closed, a sealed vapor barrier, and closed-cell foam on the walls and rim, keeps moist summer air out and the floor above warmer in winter. The Insulation Institute's summary of the 2020 Indiana Residential Code lists R-13 or R-10 continuous for crawl space walls in Climate Zone 5, and OpenEI places Marion County in Zone 5A.

A wet climate

Lawrence's 1991 to 2020 normal precipitation is 46.6 inches a year, according to Wikipedia. Rain that is not carried away by gutters and grading ends up next to the foundation and under the house. We check for water in crawl spaces and basements before quoting insulation, and if drainage needs fixing first, we say so.

Rentals

The 2020 census counted 20,354 housing units in Lawrence, with a rental vacancy rate of 10.7%, so there are plenty of rental homes. Landlords often call us about tenant comfort or high bills. A targeted job on the attic and crawl space usually does the most for the money.

Split-levels and tri-levels

Lawrence has plenty of 1960s and 1970s split-levels. The lower level is often partly below grade with a crawl space under the upper wing. The rim steps between levels, and there may be two attics. We trace the rim line, seal the transitions and treat each attic separately on the quote.

Ductwork in the crawl space

Many Lawrence ranches have their supply ducts running through a vented crawl space. In winter those ducts lose heat before it reaches the rooms, and in summer they sweat. Bringing the crawl space inside the insulated envelope helps both problems at once.

Fort Harrison

Fort Benjamin Harrison lies within Fort Harrison State Park inside the city, and the neighborhoods around it mix older and newer homes. Whatever the age, we look before we price and write the quote area by area. Get a free estimate