Insulation and air sealing for Richmond Heights homes: attics, crawl spaces, rim joists and walls, starting with a free assessment of the R-value you actually have. Richmond Heights enforces the 2024 IECC, which sets R-49 for a new attic.
Richmond Heights runs to about 2.3 square miles and roughly 9,096 people. It sits about 7 miles west of downtown St. Louis. That is roughly 4,599 housing units. The community dates back to 1913. We cover ZIP code 63117.
Our job history shows nothing in Richmond Heights so far. Plenty of sites will show you a number here anyway.
The typical home in Richmond Heights dates to around the late-1940s. Houses built before the war generally went up with nothing in the walls at all and whatever went into the attic afterwards. Anything up there was added later, usually in a hurry.
Residential development began in the 1890s-1910s: developer Frederick Neisen acquired land in 1892, and John Rankin Dyer developed 120 acres after the 1904 World's Fair; the city incorporated in 1913.
That includes Hadley Township. Housing age and construction shift across Richmond Heights, sometimes by decades within a few streets, which is why we look in the attic before quoting rather than after.
Hadley Township was a Black neighborhood established in 1907 as workers' housing for the Evens & Howard Fire Brick Co.; annexed by Richmond Heights in 1918, it survived multiple redevelopment threats but was demolished in 2014 under a blight/eminent-domain study to make way for a Menards, with a historical marker placed in 2019.
The Census Bureau estimates 4,599 homes in Richmond Heights. 1,957 of them (43%) went up before 1940 — the 2nd-highest share of pre-1940 housing among the 44 places on this site. More of today's homes date from before 1940 than from any single decade since, and 76% predate 1980. For St. Louis County as a whole the pre-1940 share is 10%, so Richmond Heights sits above it.
Of 4,371 occupied homes, 74% heat with utility gas and 24% with electricity. Electric heat here is more common than across the county (23%), and ranks 35th of 44 on this site. Which utility program can contribute depends on the heating fuel and on who sends the bill, so that is the first thing an assessment pins down.
54% of occupied homes are owner-occupied and 57% of all homes are single-family detached houses. Read together, those numbers point toward wall insulation for walls built empty and a vermiculite check before anything is disturbed.
| Built | Homes | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before 1940 | 1,957 | 43% | |
| 1940s | 470 | 10% | |
| 1950s | 605 | 13% | |
| 1960s | 303 | 7% | |
| 1970s | 172 | 4% | |
| 1980s | 170 | 4% | |
| 1990s | 84 | 2% | |
| 2000s | 187 | 4% | |
| 2010s | 605 | 13% | |
| 2020 or later | 46 | 1% |
4,599 homes, Census ACS 2020–2024 (B25034, B25040, B25003); 4,371 occupied.
2,427 of Richmond Heights' 4,599 homes (53%) went up before 1950. In houses that old the air leaves before any insulation can slow it: balloon-framed bays open from the sill to the attic, open chases behind knee walls, plaster-and-lath ceilings leaking at every fixture. Those get blocked and sealed first. Two checks come before any quote on a house this old: loose gray-brown flakes in the attic, and cloth-covered wiring on ceramic knobs.
Richmond Heights enforces the 2024 IECC. The city's International Energy Conservation Code article adopts the International Energy Conservation Code/2024. The article carries Ordinance No. 5422 dated 7-1-2019 and Ordinance No. 5572 dated 4-21-2025, the later ordinance bringing the adopted edition up to 2024. The amendments substitute Richmond Heights entities for the code's references to the jurisdiction, the Department of Building Safety and the code official, and replace the code's means of appeals with a three-member Board of Appeals. The city also adds Section R404.5 requiring electric vehicle charging infrastructure in new residential construction.
Under that edition the required attic value for new work here is R-49, and walls R-30, or R-20 plus R-5 continuous, or R-13 plus R-10 continuous, or R-0 plus R-20 continuous. For comparison, the Department of Energy recommends R60 for an uninsulated attic in climate zone 4A, where Richmond Heights sits, and R49 where there are already a few inches up there.
2024 IECC residential R-value alternative table, climate zone 4. The Illinois Capital Development Board's cost-effectiveness study of the 2024 IECC residential provisions states that ceiling insulation in Table R402.1.3 was reduced from R-60 to R-49 in climate zones 4 through 8; NAHB's summary of significant changes from the 2018 to the 2024 IECC gives the climate zone 4 and 5 wood frame wall requirement as 'R-20&5ci, R-13&10ci, 30, or 0&20ci'.
There is no published answer for Richmond Heights. Neither the permit-required list nor the exemption list mentions insulation or air sealing at all. The Building Department FAQ lists decks, fences, garages, room additions, kitchen and bathroom remodels, driveway replacement involving the public sidewalk or apron, and residential and commercial demolition as requiring permits. Insulation, air sealing and weatherization are not mentioned. The department's published application list includes no insulation or weatherization permit or guide. 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 314-646-7658. The department page is here.
Permitting is on us, not on you.
Richmond Heights 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. The conditions: an attic going from R-20 or below to at least R-38, air sealing that cuts measured leakage by 20 percent, and twelve months in the home. CommunitySavers can include attic insulation at no charge for income-eligible households. Income-qualified households can apply to Community Action Agency of St. Louis County (CAASTLC) (314-863-0015) for free weatherization instead. The St. Louis County page and the rebate guide carry the full rules.
Every layer of an insulated attic, explained
Richmond Heights borders St. Louis City. 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 4 different adopted editions (2015 IECC, 2018 IECC, 2021 IECC and 2024 IECC), and 1 of the 7 publishes a permit rule for insulation.
| City | Energy code | Attic R required | Permit to insulate | Building dept. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richmond Heights | 2024 IECC | R-49 | Not published | 314-646-7658 |
| St. Louis City | 2018 IECC | R-49 | Not published | 314-622-3313 |
| Affton | 2015 IECC | R-49 | Not for an attic top-up | 314-615-5184 |
| Ballwin | Not published | — | Not published | 636-227-2129 |
| Brentwood | 2024 IECC | R-49 | Not published | 314-963-8602 |
| Chesterfield | Not published | — | Not published | 636-537-4000 |
| Clayton | 2021 IECC | R-60 | Not published | 314-290-8463 |
All 21 St. Louis County jurisdictions side by side →
Richmond Heights enforces the 2024 IECC, which sets R-49 for an attic in new work. That code also reaches work on existing houses, not only new ones.
Richmond Heights has not published a rule for it; the building department at 314-646-7658 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 Richmond Heights dates to around the late-1940s; the Census Bureau's 2020-2024 median year built is 1947. Of its 4,599 homes, 43% went up before 1940 and 18% 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: ecode360.com (2, 3) · richmondheights.org (2, 3, 4) · cdb.illinois.gov · nahb.org · data.mo.gov · en.wikipedia.org (2) · censusreporter.org · city-data.com · ameren.com (2, 3, 4) · energystar.gov · data.census.gov. These change; confirm with the building department at 314-646-7658 or your electric utility first.
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