Hempfield houses tend to be generous, and many still have a whole floor of attic nobody uses, or a dark room over the garage full of holiday boxes. Our carpenters make it a real room: heated, lit and built to be used every day.
Hempfield Attics
Some 3,500 Hempfield houses date from the 1970s, about 3,700 have nine or more rooms, and close to 40 percent have no gas line for heat. Each fact changes how an attic gets finished out here.
Hempfield's typical house was built around 1971, as builders were shifting from hand-cut rafters to factory trusses. An attic from that decade could be either, and which one sits over your ceiling decides how easily it becomes a room.
We look before anything is drawn. Rafter attics usually move straight to floor reinforcement and a stair. Truss attics get an honest answer: an engineered redesign where it is worth it, or a different spot for the room.
What we find up thereIn many Hempfield houses, the space over an attached garage is the easiest attic to finish: wide, often reachable from a hallway, and away from the bedrooms. Owners want a bonus room there instead of a storage loft.
The garage ceiling gets fire-rated Type X drywall below the new room, as code requires, the floor is reinforced, and insulation goes between the cold garage and the warm room above so the floor stays comfortable.
Playrooms and bonus roomsLarge houses are common in Hempfield, and 41 percent of owners are older than 65. When grown children and grandchildren come to stay, owners want a guest room that does not take over the den or the dining room.
A bedroom centered under the ridge, with a window big enough to escape through, a wired smoke detector and closets in the eaves. Where a drain can reach, a compact bath turns it into a suite so guests have their own space.
Attic bedrooms and suitesKids live in roughly one Hempfield household of four. Once every bedroom in the house is claimed, an attic room gives an older child some independence or gives the younger ones a playroom out of the living room.
We stiffen the floor for running feet, pad and carpet or lay a durable wood floor, insulate between floors for quiet, and build a stair with a solid rail. Knee-wall storage takes the toys off the floor.
Playrooms and bonus roomsSeventies roofs were often built at a gentle pitch, which leaves an attic roomy in floor area but short in height. Owners who climb up and can only stand in the middle want more of the room usable at full height.
A shed dormer across the back of the roof can add full height to most of the floor, tied into the old roof with step flashing and new shingles. Where a dormer is not the right call, the layout works with the height already there.
Dormers and headroomAbout a third of Hempfield homes heat with oil or electricity, which often cost more to run than utility gas. In those houses, an attic room that leaks heat through the roof shows up on every winter bill.
Insulation runs the full depth of the rafters, every penetration and wall top is sealed, and baffles hold an air channel open beneath the sheathing. A tight attic room costs less to heat, whatever fuel the house burns.
Insulation and ventilationFigures: ACS 2020–2024 (U.S. Census Bureau), township only, excluding Greensburg and the boroughs.
The rest of the job
How it runs, what it costs and who builds it are on our main attic finishing page.
An Attic in the Township
An attic follows Hempfield's usual permit schedule. Up there, two more township facts come into play: septic systems are sized by bedroom count, and many houses have no gas line.
30 daysPermit review, business days
An attic room needs a Hempfield building permit; review can stretch over 30 business days, with six months after issue to get started. Township inspectors check the framing, the stair and the wiring as the work goes. The Hempfield kitchen page covers all of it, and we file.
Hempfield rules, explained400 galSeptic design flow, up to 3 bedrooms
State rules design a house's septic flow around 400 gallons daily for one to three bedrooms, adding 100 per bedroom past that. On septic or a holding tank, an attic bedroom can change that math. Hempfield's sewage enforcement officer is the one to ask.
Hempfield Township FAQ (opens in a new tab)39%Hempfield homes not heated by utility gas
Gas heats just 61 percent of township homes; electricity, oil and propane cover most of the others. In those houses an attic room usually gets its own heat, typically a ductless mini-split, sized to the room and independent of the furnace below.
Heating, cooling and wiringAttic Questions
Five questions Hempfield owners raise before the attic gets its floor, stair and door. Each step is described with our attic finishing service.
Ask a QuestionIt depends on the framing, the stair and the height. A rafter attic over the garage with easy access costs less than a low-pitched truss attic needing a dormer. Separate heat and a bath raise it. Once we measure, you get the price in writing, and the attic service gives usual ranges.
Attic cost rangesIt works and costs little to install, but it can be expensive to run in a cold winter. A ductless mini-split costs more up front, heats more efficiently and also cools the room in summer, when attics get hottest. We price both so you can compare.
Heating, cooling and wiringNot when they are installed right. A skylight set in its manufacturer's flashing kit, with underlayment lapped correctly and a framed curb or deck mount, sheds water as well as the shingles around it. Leaks usually trace to caulk standing in for metal flashing, or to old units past their life.
Dormers and headroomSealed, insulated rafters slow the heat, a ventilated channel under the sheathing carries it off, and a cooling source finishes the job. A mini-split handles that well. Lighter shades on new skylights or windows facing west also help on long afternoons.
Insulation and ventilationYes, with a plan. The structure comes first: floor framing, the stair, the dormer if any, and rough wiring, all inspected. Drywall, flooring and trim can follow later. We draw the whole room up front so the first stage does not limit the second.
How an attic job runsOther Services
Around Hempfield we also build kitchens for houses without gas, baths meant to last and roofed patios. Pick a service below.
Kitchen RemodelingNew layouts, new cabinets, new counters: framed, built, and installed by the same crew.View Service
Bathroom RemodelingFull gut renovations with proper waterproofing, new framing, and tile set by hand.View Service
Basement FinishingUnfinished basements turned into real rooms: framed, insulated, drywalled, and finished by our crew.View Service
Additions & ADUsAdditions and accessory dwelling units (ADUs), framed from the ground up and tied in clean.View Service
Windows & Exterior DoorsWindows and exterior doors set, flashed, and trimmed so water stays out of the wall.View Service
Exterior Restoration & Structural RepairsRotted trim and siding, sagging joists, failed sills: opened up and repaired to solid wood.View Service
Decks & Covered PatiosDecks, covered patios and three-season rooms, flashed to the house and built for Westmoreland winters.View ServiceVerified Google Reviews
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Get in Touch
Tell us about the project in the form or give us a call. Either way, estimates are free and the number is the number — priced to the actual work, written down before anyone swings a hammer.
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529 Forest Ave
Trafford, PA 15085
