Attic insulation, air sealing, crawl spaces and walls for homes in Ballwin — starting with a free assessment that measures the R-value you actually have. The typical home here dates to the mid-1970s, and 0% of its 12,563 homes went up before 1940.
Ballwin runs to about 9.1 square miles and roughly 31,279 people. It sits about 18 miles west of downtown St. Louis. That is roughly 12,563 housing units. The community dates back to 1950. We cover ZIP codes 63011 and 63021.
Our job history shows nothing in Ballwin so far. Plenty of sites will show you a number here anyway.
The typical home in Ballwin dates to around the mid-1970s. Postwar building here often meant three or four inches of fiberglass and no attempt at air sealing. If nobody has touched it since, that is what is still up there.
Settled in 1837 and incorporated in December 1950, Ballwin's housing stock has a median construction year of 1976; Salem in Ballwin United Methodist Church's original 1870 sanctuary, with a German-language inscription, still stands today.
The Census Bureau estimates 12,563 homes in Ballwin. 57 of them (0%) went up before 1940 — one of the five lowest pre-1940 shares among the 44 places on this site. The 1960s were the busiest decade, adding 3,139 of today's homes (25%); 59% predate 1980 and 8% were built in 2000 or later. For St. Louis County as a whole the pre-1940 share is 10%, so Ballwin sits below it.
Of 12,079 occupied homes, 85% heat with utility gas and 14% with electricity. Electric heat here is less common than across the county (23%), and ranks 44th of 44 on this site. That is why the assessment asks how the house is heated: the fuel and the name on the utility bill decide which program, if any, can pay toward the work.
84% of occupied homes are owner-occupied and 81% of all homes are single-family detached houses. On a housing mix like this, the likely starting points are an attic top-up over postwar fiberglass.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 57 | 0% | |
| 1940s | 180 | 1% | |
| 1950s | 1,000 | 8% | |
| 1960s | 3,139 | 25% | |
| 1970s | 3,028 | 24% | |
| 1980s | 2,162 | 17% | |
| 1990s | 1,995 | 16% | |
| 2000s | 666 | 5% | |
| 2010s | 336 | 3% | |
| 2020 or later | 0 | 0% |
12,563 homes, Census ACS 2020–2024 (B25034, B25040, B25003); 12,079 occupied.
4,157 of Ballwin's 12,563 homes (33%) were built in the 1980s and 1990s. 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.
Ballwin does not publish the energy code edition it enforces, so this page does not name one. Ballwin's own Department of Code Enforcement brochures for room additions and for basement finishing both cite the 2015 International Residential Code as the governing code. The State of Missouri's building-codes-by-city list lists Ballwin with a 2015 IRC and 2015 IBC and shows no energy code. Across this metro the adopted editions run from the 2015 IECC to the 2024 IECC, and several jurisdictions have no energy code at all, which is a wide spread. Ask which one your contractor is building to.
There is no published answer for Ballwin. Neither the permit-required list nor the exemption list mentions insulation or air sealing at all. The city's basement finish brochure states that finishing a basement does require a permit, and the room addition brochure states that an addition requires a building permit and in most cases mechanical, electrical and plumbing permits as well. Neither names insulation as its own permit. The room addition brochure requires drawings to indicate the type, thickness and R-value of insulation, but states no minimum R-values. That silence is not permission and it is not a prohibition. We settle it with a phone call before the crew is scheduled.
The published number is 636-227-2129. The department page is here.
Permitting is on us, not on you.
Ballwin is on the Missouri side, where most addresses buy their electricity from Ameren Missouri. Its Pay As You Save program publishes $0.20 per square foot on ceiling and attic insulation and $0.06 per square foot on air sealing for the 2026 program year; the incentive comes off the cost and the rest is repaid through a monthly charge on the bill. It counts only when the attic is at R-20 or below beforehand and R-38 or more afterward, when air sealing cuts measured leakage by 20 percent, and when the household has lived there for the past year; for income-eligible households, CommunitySavers can include attic insulation at no charge. Income-qualified households can apply to Community Action Agency of St. Louis County (CAASTLC) (314-863-0015) for free weatherization instead. For every condition attached, see the St. Louis County page or the rebate guide.
Every layer of an insulated attic, explained
Ballwin borders Chesterfield, Manchester, Ellisville, Town and Country, Clarkson Valley and Winchester. These are the ones we also cover, each with its own energy code and permit rule:
Elsewhere in St. Louis County we also cover:
Missouri sets none of this at state level. Across the 7 places in this table there are 3 different adopted editions (2015 IECC, 2015 IRC ch. 11 and 2018 IRC ch. 11), and 2 of the 7 publish a permit rule for insulation.
| City | Energy code | Attic R required | Permit to insulate | Building dept. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballwin | Not published | — | Not published | 636-227-2129 |
| Chesterfield | Not published | — | Not published | 636-537-4000 |
| Manchester | Not published | — | Not published | 314-615-5184 |
| Ellisville | 2015 IRC ch. 11 | R-49 | Not published | 636-227-9660 |
| Town and Country | 2018 IRC ch. 11 | R-49 | Not published | 314-587-2820 |
| Wildwood | Not published | — | Not for an attic top-up | 636-458-0440 |
| Affton | 2015 IECC | R-49 | Not for an attic top-up | 314-615-5184 |
All 21 St. Louis County jurisdictions side by side →
Ballwin does not publish the energy code edition it enforces, so we do not state a required figure here. The Department of Energy recommends R60 for an uninsulated attic in this climate zone and R49 where there are already a few inches.
Ballwin has not published a rule for it; the building department at 636-227-2129 is called before the job starts.
For most Ameren Missouri customers, Pay As You Save: $0.20 per square foot on an attic starting at R-20 or lower and $0.06 per square foot on air sealing in 2026, the rest repaid on the bill. The federal 25C credit ended for work placed in service after December 31, 2025.
The typical home in Ballwin dates to around the mid-1970s; the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 median year built is 1976. Of its 12,563 homes, 0% went up before 1940 and 8% 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 September 10, 2026, rebates October 24, 2026; housing: Census ACS 2020–2024. Sources: ballwin.mo.us (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) · data.mo.gov · en.wikipedia.org · censusreporter.org · point2homes.com · ameren.com (2, 3, 4) · energystar.gov · data.census.gov. These change; confirm with the building department at 636-227-2129 or your electric utility first.
Free assessment, a measured R-value, and photos you keep either way.
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