Spray Foam Insulation in St. Petersburg, FL

Spray foam insulation in St. Petersburg starts with the age of the houses. ACS figures on Point2Homes put the city's median year built at 1969, with about 22.6% of homes from the 1950s and about 9% from 1939 or earlier. Homes that old were built long before today's R-38 ceiling requirement, and most have had their attics disturbed by decades of wiring, cable and duct work.

Ducts in the attic

Many St. Pete homes had central air added after they were built, which usually put the air handler and ducts in the attic. In summer those ducts sit in the hottest air in the house. Foaming the roof deck turns the attic into a semi-conditioned space so the ducts stay cooler. Where the ducts are inside the house, sealing the ceiling and blowing insulation deeper on the attic floor is the lower-cost route.

The 2024 storms

The National Hurricane Center's report on Helene lists a storm tide of 6.31 feet above mean higher high water at the St. Petersburg gauge, above the 3.97-foot mark set by Hurricane Elena in 1985. A few weeks later Milton dropped nearly 19 inches of rain on the city, with 5.09 inches in a single hour. Roofs failed and attics got wet across the city. We check for stained sheathing and matted, damp insulation on every visit and remove what got wet before anything new goes in.

Rain the rest of the year

Under 1991 to 2020 normals, St. Petersburg averages 52.48 inches of rain a year, and August alone brings 9.33 inches. Afternoon storms find every weak spot in a roof, which is one reason we look at the roof deck before recommending foam on it.

Code baseline

Pinellas County is in Climate Zone 2 under the 2023 Florida energy code, which lists R-38 for ceilings, R-13 for frame walls and R-6 interior or R-4 continuous for block walls. Older homes are often well below those numbers.

Florida rooms and flat-roof additions

Many St. Pete houses gained an enclosed porch or a low-slope addition over the years. Those rooms are often the hottest in the house because their roofs have little insulation and their walls were built cheaply. Foam under a low-slope roof deck or a spray foam roof on top, plus sealing where the addition meets the original house, usually fixes them.

Duke Energy Florida customers

Duke's posted prerequisites for its attic insulation program include a Home Energy Check, an existing attic averaging R-19 or less and a Duke-approved contractor. Check the program before reinsulating. Get a free estimate