Attic insulation, air sealing, crawl spaces and walls for homes in Awendaw — starting with a free assessment that measures the R-value you actually have. The typical home here dates to the early-2000s, and 2% of its 818 homes went up before 1940.
Awendaw runs to about 17 square miles and roughly 1,772 people. It sits about 21 miles northeast of downtown Charleston. There are around 818 housing units here. The community dates back to 1992. We cover ZIP code 29429.
We have not logged a completed job in Awendaw yet. We would rather say so than put a number on this page that is not real.
The typical home in Awendaw dates to around the early-2000s. Houses of this vintage usually got batts or blown fiber at whatever the standard of the day was, which is well short of what is recommended now. Most are one top-up away from being right.
Awendaw is a small rural fishing town along U.S. 17 in northeastern Charleston County, near the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and the Francis Marion National Forest. It was settled in 1696 as Wappetaw by settlers from Salem, Massachusetts, stayed rural through most of the 20th century, and was heavily damaged by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
The Census Bureau estimates 818 homes in Awendaw. 17 of them (2%) went up before 1940 — 15th of 28 places on this site for pre-1940 housing. The 2000s were the busiest decade, adding 201 of today's homes (25%); 26% predate 1980 and 53% were built in 2000 or later. For Charleston County as a whole the pre-1940 share is 5%, so Awendaw sits below it.
Of 746 occupied homes, 1% heat with utility gas and 78% with electricity; another 10% burn propane or other tank gas. Electric heat here is more common than across the county (76%), and ranks 17th of 28 on this site. Whoever comes out will ask about the furnace or heat pump first, since the heating fuel and the utility named on the bill settle which program money is on the table.
94% of occupied homes are owner-occupied and 83% of all homes are single-family detached houses, with 124 mobile homes in the count. Read together, those numbers point toward air sealing on newer houses that already have depth and an energy assessment before deciding what to fix first.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 17 | 2% | |
| 1940s | 36 | 4% | |
| 1950s | 40 | 5% | |
| 1960s | 86 | 11% | |
| 1970s | 37 | 5% | |
| 1980s | 80 | 10% | |
| 1990s | 92 | 11% | |
| 2000s | 201 | 25% | |
| 2010s | 197 | 24% | |
| 2020 or later | 32 | 4% |
818 homes, Census ACS 2020–2024 (B25034, B25040, B25003); 746 occupied.
430 of Awendaw's 818 homes (53%) were built in 2000 or later. Depth is rarely what is missing in houses this new; air paths are: attached garages, bonus rooms over them, the chase around a high-efficiency flue, and the thin edge where blown fiber meets the wall plate. They usually earn their money back on sealing rather than on more fiber.
Awendaw enforces the South Carolina Energy Standard (the 2009 IECC), by state law. Charleston County enforces the codes in Awendaw, the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code among them, and moves to the 2024 residential code for projects submitted from January 1, 2027.
For new work, the attic number under that edition is R-30, with walls at R-13. Set that against the Department of Energy, which recommends R49 for an uninsulated attic in this climate zone and R38 for one that already has a few inches.
Table 402.1.1 of the 2009 IECC, climate zone 3, which South Carolina's Energy Standard Act adopts for the whole state (section 6-10-30 of the South Carolina Code).
Awendaw requires a permit for this work. Awendaw says a town zoning permit is required for all new construction, renovation, modifications and maintenance, even work that does not need a county building permit. Building permits are issued by Charleston County under an agreement with the town, and the county's code lists insulation as work that needs a permit. We pull it as part of the job.
The published number is 843-202-6930. The department page is here.
Permitting is on us, not on you.
Part of Awendaw sits inside Berkeley Electric Cooperative's territory, by the cooperative's own map, and Dominion Energy South Carolina is also on record in Charleston County: check whose name is on the electric bill first. If Dominion Energy South Carolina sends the bill and the house heats with electricity, Check-up Plus covers 90% of an attic, air sealing and duct sealing job, to $2,880, through March 31, 2027; it starts with Dominion's free check-up and uses the program's own contractor.
Berkeley Electric lends rather than rebates: its HomeAdvantage program lends up to $20,000 at 5%, with an energy audit first and the payments added to the electric bill. Income-qualified households can apply to Palmetto Community Action Partnership (843-720-5336) for free weatherization instead. Every condition attached is on the Charleston County page and in the rebate guide.
Every layer of an insulated attic, explained
Elsewhere in Charleston County we also cover:
South Carolina sets the residential energy code statewide, so the attic figure is R-30 wherever it is published here; what changes is the permit desk, and 7 of the 7 publish a permit rule for insulation.
| City | Energy code | Attic R required | Permit to insulate | Building dept. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awendaw | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-202-6930 |
| Adams Run | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-202-6930 |
| Charleston | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-577-5550 |
| Unincorporated Charleston County | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-202-6930 |
| Edisto Island | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-202-6930 |
| Folly Beach | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-588-2447 |
| Hollywood | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 864-586-6111 |
All 22 Charleston County jurisdictions side by side →
Awendaw enforces the 2009 IECC (state law), which sets R-30 for an attic in new work. Whether it reaches a retrofit of an existing house is not published.
Yes. Awendaw requires a permit for this work, and we pull it as part of the job.
Dominion Energy South Carolina's Check-up Plus pays 90% of attic insulation, air sealing and duct sealing, up to $2,880, until March 31, 2027, for electrically heated homes; the program's contractor does the work. Berkeley Electric members get a 5% on-bill loan instead of a rebate. The federal 25C credit ended for work placed in service after December 31, 2025.
The typical home in Awendaw dates to around the early-2000s; the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 median year built is 2001. Of its 818 homes, 2% went up before 1940 and 53% in 2000 or later. Half the homes here are older than that and half newer; yours may sit at either end.
Code and permit facts checked October 24, 2026, rebates October 24, 2026; housing: Census ACS 2020–2024. Sources: townofawendawsc.org (2, 3, 4) · charlestoncounty.gov (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) · scstatehouse.gov (2) · charlestoncounty.org · en.wikipedia.org (2) · www2.census.gov · dominionenergy.com · berkeleyelectric.coop · santeecooper.com · coastal.coop · energystar.gov · data.census.gov. These change; confirm with the building department at 843-202-6930 or the utility named on your electric bill first.
Free assessment: what depth you have now, what it has settled to, and what the sealing is worth.
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