The porch roof dips in the middle, the top step gives a little, and paint flakes off a post that sounds hollow when you knock. Close to 30% of the borough's homes were built before the Second World War. We take apart what's failing, find the water or weight that caused it, and build it back on sound framing.
Irwin Repairs
Irwin's median house was built in 1954, and about 85% predate 1980. In a borough this old, repairs often start at the porch, the sill or the floor, and these are the ones owners and landlords ask about.
The borough designs for 40 pounds of snow per square foot of ground, and an old porch roof carries that weight on a beam and posts that may have been light from the start. Owners see the roofline dip, the gutter tilt and the ceiling boards gap.
We shore the roof, replace the beam with one sized for the span and the snow, and set new posts on footings below the 36-inch frost line. Rotted rafter ends and ceiling boards are replaced so the roof sits straight again.
Beams, posts and headersRoughly 15% of Irwin houses are one side of a double, and some doubles share one long front porch. When one half's posts or floor give out, both owners want to know how to repair it without a mismatched result.
We look at the whole porch, then rebuild the failing framing on your half so it ties into the neighbor's at the same height and pitch. Where both owners agree, both halves can be done at once for an even finish.
Porch and stair structureIrwin's code rates termite risk here as moderate to heavy, and old houses often have siding, sills or porch skirts that sit right at the soil. Owners find wood that crumbles at the bottom edge, sometimes with tunnels in it.
Any active insects get treated by a licensed exterminator first. Then we cut out the damage, replace it with treated lumber, and regrade or trim so the new wood sits at least 8 inches above the soil, as the code asks.
What the rot is hidingState maps put old coal workings beneath much of the borough. A floor that tilts, a door that drags or a crack in the plaster may be ordinary settling or a tired beam, but owners want someone to look underneath before guessing.
Underneath, we check the girder, posts and joists, measure how far the floor has moved, and look for water or old cuts. Fixes range from doubling joists to new posts and footings to a replacement girder, with CEA's review where the work is structural.
Sagging floors and joistsRenters occupy 57% of Irwin's homes, and each time a tenant leaves, the unit is inspected again. Landlords ask about the outside items: loose railings, soft porch boards, steps that wobble and bare wood.
Under the maintenance code, porches and stairs must be structurally sound, railings firmly fastened and exterior wood protected. We repair the structure first, then prime and paint before the inspector's visit.
Irwin rental rulesOn a house from the twenties, the cornice, window caps and porch brackets have profiles you won't find at a lumberyard. Owners want the rot fixed without the repair standing out from across the street.
We take a sample of the original profile and have it matched or built up from standard pieces, then install it primed on every face. The new pieces meet the originals cleanly, and the joints are flashed so they stay tight.
Trim, fascia and soffitsHousing ages: Census ACS 2020–2024 for the borough, rounded. Design values: the borough's adopted building code tables.
The rest of the job
How it runs, what it costs and who builds it are on our main exterior restoration & structural repairs page.
Repairs in Irwin
Three Irwin facts shape a repair: the design values written into the borough's code, the old mines mapped under much of the town, and which jobs go to CEA for plan review.
40 lbGround snow load in Irwin's code
Irwin's adopted code tables list a 40 lb ground snow figure, a 36-inch frost line and a termite rating of moderate to heavy. Those three numbers decide how big a porch beam must be, how deep new footings go, and how close wood can sit to the soil.
Irwin Code §110-1 (opens in a new tab)MostOf Irwin over confirmed mining
On DEP's subsidence map, confirmed mining shades the larger part of the borough, which sits on the seam miners called the Irwin basin. Standard home insurance leaves subsidence out, so a floor or foundation crack is worth an address check. The Irwin hub page explains more.
Coal under IrwinCEAThe borough's plan reviewer
Replacing rotted boards and trim is ordinary repair. Removing a beam or rebuilding load-bearing framing is not, so the plans go in at Main Street and on to CEA, whose review can run three weeks. Each step is on our Irwin kitchen page.
Irwin permitsRepair Questions
These usually come from Irwin owners and landlords while we're knocking on porch posts. Our repair service page covers a job from inspection through cleanup.
Ask a QuestionOnly after the rot is exposed and we know where it stops. A few porch boards or some trim is a modest job; a porch roof beam with new posts and footings, or a sagging floor girder, is the large end. We write the price before starting.
Repair price rangesReplacing boards, railings or trim in kind is ordinary repair. Rebuilding the roof beam, posts or floor framing is structural, so it goes to the borough and CEA. We apply ahead of time so approval is in hand before the old porch comes apart.
Irwin permitsIf the cause is mine subsidence, a standard policy usually won't; that takes a state subsidence policy bought ahead of time. A storm's sudden damage is often covered and slow rot rarely is. We photograph and write up the damage for your agent.
Coal under IrwinThat's between the two owners and sometimes their deeds, not us. What we can do is price each half separately and the whole porch together, so you both see the numbers. Doing it at once usually gives the neatest result.
Porch and stair structureSometimes both. Rot leaves wood soft and stringy; termites leave mud tubes and hollow galleries. We show you which we've found, and if insects are active, a licensed exterminator treats them before any new wood goes in.
What the rot is hidingOther Services
Irwin kitchens and baths, attic rooms, basements, additions and windows are also our work. Choose 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
Attic FinishingUnused attics framed into bedrooms and offices: subfloor, insulation, drywall, and a proper stair.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
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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Written by the homeowners we've worked for across Westmoreland County. Every one verified on Google, every one pulled from the real feed.
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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
