Ever wonder why your floors feel cold even after you've insulated the attic? The culprit is usually your rim joist โ that band of framing sitting right at the top of your foundation wall. It's one of the most common heat-loss spots in Northeast Arkansas homes, and most homeowners have never heard of it.
Your rim joist is sandwiched between warm living space above and a cold crawl space or basement below. In a typical 1,500 SF ranch house, that perimeter can run 160 linear feet or more โ all of it exposed to outside air through gaps, cracks, and bare wood. IRC R402.2.1 actually calls for rim joist insulation in Climate Zone 3 (that's us) to meet at least R-13.
Closed-cell spray foam is the go-to fix here. At 2 inches thick you hit R-13 to R-14, and the foam acts as both insulation and air barrier in one shot โ no separate house wrap, no fiberglass batts falling out six months later. Material and labor typically runs $2.50โ$4.00 per board foot installed, and a full rim joist job on an average Jonesboro home is usually done in under a day.
Homeowners who get this done before November routinely tell us their gas bills drop $30โ$60 a month through the winter. That math pays the job back in one heating season for a lot of folks in the Trumann and Lake City area.
We're booking October and November slots now โ they fill up fast once the first cold snap hits. Reply or DM us for a free rim joist inspection and estimate before the rush.