Attic insulation, air sealing, crawl spaces and walls for homes in West Ashley — starting with a free assessment that measures the R-value you actually have. West Ashley enforces the 2009 IECC (state law), which sets R-30 for a new attic.
We cover ZIP codes 29407 and 29414.
We have not logged a completed job in West Ashley yet. We would rather say so than put a number on this page that is not real.
The oldest neighborhoods, along Savannah Highway nearest downtown, date from the 1950s, and the largest wave of building came in the 1970s and 1980s.
We work across West Ashley rather than one corner of it — Avondale, Byrnes Downs, Old Windermere, South Windermere, Wespanee, Moreland, Maryville/Ashleyville, Northbridge Terrace, Ashley Forest and Orleans Woods included. Construction and vintage change between them, sometimes by thirty years and a whole different framing method, which decides whether a wall can be dense-packed at all.
West Ashley is the large suburban part of the City of Charleston west of the Ashley River, flanked by the marshes of the Ashley and Stono rivers, and the site of the colony's first English settlement at Albemarle Point in 1670. Its first neighborhoods along Savannah Highway were built after World War II in the 1950s, and its biggest building boom came in the 1970s and 1980s as new highways eased commuting. The Ashley River Road corridor, with its plantations and gardens, is a National Register historic district.
The gaps in houses of that age are the parts nobody sealed: batts stuffed into the rim joist, bare spots over cathedral and tray ceilings, soffit vents buried with no baffles, can lights punched through the ceiling plane. A top-up plus a day of sealing usually covers it.
West Ashley enforces the South Carolina Energy Standard (the 2009 IECC), by state law. Addresses here sit either in the City of Charleston or in unincorporated Charleston County, and both list the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code among the codes they enforce.
That edition sets R-30 for the attic in new work, and R-13 for walls. The Department of Energy's recommendation for this climate zone runs higher: R49 for an attic with nothing in it, R38 where a few inches are already down.
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).
West Ashley requires a permit for this work. Inside Charleston city limits, the city says a permit from Building Inspections is needed for any work in the city. In unincorporated Charleston County, the county's building code names insulation as work that needs a permit, apart from no-inspection jobs under $1,000 done by the homeowner or a one-trade specialty contractor. We pull it as part of the job.
The published number is 843-577-5550. The department page is here.
Permitting is on us, not on you.
Homes across Charleston County buy electricity from Dominion Energy South Carolina and Berkeley Electric Cooperative, and the name on the bill decides which program applies. 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. The full program rules are in the rebate guide.
Every layer of an insulated attic, explained
West Ashley borders Johns Island, North Charleston, Ashley River and Stono River. These are the ones we also cover, each with its own energy code and permit rule:
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 6 of the 7 publish a permit rule for insulation.
| City | Energy code | Attic R required | Permit to insulate | Building dept. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ashley | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-577-5550 |
| Johns Island | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-577-5550 |
| North Charleston | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Not published | 843-740-2562 |
| Adams Run | 2009 IECC (state law) | R-30 | Yes | 843-202-6930 |
| Awendaw | 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 |
All 22 Charleston County jurisdictions side by side →
West Ashley 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. West Ashley requires a permit for this work, and we pull it as part of the job.
If Dominion Energy South Carolina is your electric utility and the house has electric heat, Check-up Plus pays 90% of attic insulation, air sealing and duct sealing, up to $2,880, through March 31, 2027, through its own contractor. Berkeley Electric members get a 5% on-bill loan instead. The federal 25C credit ended for work placed in service after December 31, 2025.
Code and permit facts checked October 24, 2026, rebates October 24, 2026; housing: Census ACS 2020–2024. Sources: charleston-sc.gov (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13) · charlestoncounty.gov (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) · scstatehouse.gov · en.wikipedia.org (2, 3, 4) · gis.charleston-sc.gov · nationalregister.sc.gov · www2.census.gov · dominionenergy.com · berkeleyelectric.coop · santeecooper.com · coastal.coop · energystar.gov. These change; confirm with the building department at 843-577-5550 or the utility named on your electric bill first.
Free assessment, a measured R-value, and photos you keep either way.
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