Spray Foam Insulation in Carlisle, IA

A river town with three housing eras

Carlisle sits about ten miles southeast of downtown Des Moines along Iowa Highway 5, mostly in Warren County with a portion in Polk, near where the Middle River joins the Des Moines River. It is older than most of the metro's south-side suburbs: the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 American Community Survey shows about 31 percent of its roughly 1,650 housing units built before 1960, about 39 percent between 1960 and 1999, and a median year built of 1975. Newer subdivisions on the higher ground toward Scotch Ridge Road account for the roughly 24 percent built since 2000.

The old town near School Street and Highway 5 has early-1900s two-stories and bungalows on stone and block foundations. The 1960s and 1970s houses that ring it are ranches and split-levels, often on crawl spaces or block basements. The ridge subdivisions are 2000s two-stories with poured basements.

Low ground, crawl spaces and moisture

Being a river town matters for the lower part of Carlisle. Crawl spaces and basements there see higher humidity and, in wet springs, a real water table. That shapes how we scope: no foam goes on a crawl or basement wall that has active water, and where the ground is damp but not wet, a sealed heavy vapor retarder on the crawl floor is not optional. Once the space is dry, closed-cell foam on the walls and rim joist is the material that tolerates the remaining dampness without failing.

In the 1970s split-levels, the vented crawl under the raised wing is usually the coldest, dampest part of the house and the first thing we would fix.

Attics in the old town

The pre-1960 houses in Carlisle get the same treatment as old houses anywhere in Central Iowa: open wall tops and chimney gaps sealed, can lights and fans addressed, hatch gasketed, then blown insulation to R-49 with eave baffles. Knob-and-tube wiring, where present, is evaluated by an electrician first. Warren County's climate zone is 5A like Polk's, so the targets do not change at the county line. We serve Carlisle from Des Moines and scope houses on the low ground and the ridge alike.