A Tested House and an Untested One in Pompey
A frosted attic in a recent house is a defect somebody can find. In a prewar house it is the building behaving as it was built to.
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What the airtightness rule means on either side of this town
In the Town of Pompey the median year of construction is 1980. Of 2,901 housing units, 23.5 percent were built in 1939 or earlier, 25.7 percent before 1950, 50.2 percent before 1980 and 49.8 percent in 1980 or later. 94.1 percent are single-family detached and 97.1 percent of occupied units are owner occupied.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 year structure built, B25035 median year structure built, B25024 units in structure and B25003 tenure, accessed 2026-09-14
Section R402.5.1.3 of the 2025 Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State sets the maximum air leakage rate at 3.0 air changes per hour in Climate Zones 4 and 5, tightening to 2.5 in Zone 6, verified by test.
Source: 2025 Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State, via UpCodes, accessed 2026-09-14
The Town of Pompey has 2,901 housing units of which 94.1 percent are single-family detached, the highest share of any town on this site, with 1.9 percent mobile homes, only 0.3 percent in two-unit buildings and owner occupancy of 97.1 percent, also the highest. 23.5 percent of the housing was built in 1939 or earlier and 49.8 percent in 1980 or later, with almost nothing in between.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 year structure built, B25035 median year structure built, B25024 units in structure and B25003 tenure, accessed 2026-09-14
Why the same frost means two things in this town
Two houses in Pompey can show the identical symptom and need completely different conversations. Section R402.5.1.3 of the 2025 Energy Conservation Construction Code of New York State caps air leakage at 3.0 air changes per hour in Climate Zones 4 and 5, verified by test, so recent construction here had to prove its airtightness by measurement. 49.8 percent of the town's 2,901 homes were built in 1980 or later and 23.5 percent were standing in 1939 or earlier, with very little in between. In the newer half a frosted deck points at a specific, findable failure. In the older half it is the expected behavior of a building that was never tested and never intended to be airtight.
What each half of Pompey should actually buy
On a recent house the work is investigative and usually narrow: find the breach, which is commonly a duct run, a chase, a poorly sealed hatch or a bath fan terminating in the wrong place, close it, and the attic recovers. On a prewar house the work is cumulative, a list of openings sealed in order of size, and expecting one dramatic fix is the way to be disappointed. Both are worth doing and they should be quoted differently. A contractor who offers the same package to both halves of this town has not asked when the house was built, which is the first question the answer depends on.
Start with the build year
Tested or untested construction is the first fork in this decision, and it changes whether you are hunting one fault or working a list.
On newer housing, look for the breach
A house that passed a leakage test and now frosts has something specific wrong. That is a narrower and usually cheaper job.
On older housing, expect a list
Prewar construction was never airtight and never meant to be. The work is a sequence of openings closed in order of size, not a single product.
Tell us what year the house was built
It changes the whole approach. We arrange an insured contractor who quotes the right kind of work for the building.
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Attic questions from Pompey homeowners
Our house is from 2005 and the attic frosts. Should it?
No, and that is useful news. Construction of that period had to meet a measured air leakage standard, so a frosted deck points at something specific that has gone wrong or was never finished properly. Attic ductwork, a bath fan terminating in the insulation and an unsealed chase are the usual suspects, and finding one of them is normally the end of the problem.
Is there any point sealing a house from the 1920s?
Yes, and it works by accumulation rather than in one step. Each opening closed reduces what reaches the deck, and the biggest ones, the hatch, the chimney chase and the top plates, do most of the work. What we will not do is tell you a hundred-year-old house can be made airtight, because that is not the goal and pretending otherwise sets up a disappointment.
Get the right attic plan for your house
Send the Pompey address and what you see on the deck. No obligation, and the age of the house decides the method.