Jeannette grew up around the Chambers and McKee glass works and is named for Jeannette McKee, a founder's wife. Nearly a third of the city's houses predate 1940, and our crews come over from Trafford to remodel them.
Start Downstairs
Seven in ten Jeannette homes went up before 1960, nearly a third before 1940, most with two or three bedrooms. We drew the basement, because in this city the water problems start there. Four places we look first.
In parts of Jeannette, storm water and sewage share a pipe, and in July 2019 heavy rain pushed both up through basement floor drains. We ask about that history before finishing a basement.
In 2019, flooded basements here cost people their washers and dryers. When we rework a basement, we can raise the laundry on a platform and keep storage up off the floor.
Stairs to an old basement are often steep, narrow and short on headroom. If the room below is becoming living space, we rebuild the stair with even risers, a handrail and room to stand.
Your line runs out to a county authority system that is getting larger pipe along Chambers Avenue. If your basement has backed up, have a plumber add a backwater valve before we finish it.
City of Jeannette Census figures (ACS 2020–2024). The plan shows a typical basement, not one address. Jeannette on Census Reporter (opens in a new tab)
What We Build Here
Jeannette's median house dates to 1952, parts of the city still run storm water through the sewer, and the city's own code office reviews every permit. Here is how each service fits that.
01Kitchen RemodelingPlaster in an older kitchen can hide a closed-up doorway or an old chimney. We learn what is in the walls before we design, then frame, hang cabinets and trim it out ourselves.View Service
02Bathroom RemodelingBathroom pipes in a 1940s house have usually been patched over and over. We open the walls so the plumber can replace what leaks, then waterproof the shower and tile it by hand.View Service
03Attic FinishingIf your attic already has a real stair, it may be the easiest bedroom to add. We check the floor joists and headroom, insulate under the roof and finish it with drywall and trim.View Service
04Basement FinishingIn the low parts of town, a basement gets finished only after the backups are dealt with. We raise what we can off the floor, choose materials that dry out, and keep the drain clear.View Service
05Additions & ADUsOn a city lot, an addition usually goes up a story or out the back. We confirm the setbacks with the code office first, then frame, roof and side it to match what is there.View Service
06Windows & Exterior DoorsA Glass City house deserves good windows. We swap failing sashes for new ones sized to the opening, repair rotted sills, flash each one and keep the trim profile original to the house.View Service
07Exterior Restoration & Structural RepairsPorch roofs and porch enclosures each need a city building permit here. We rebuild sagging porch roofs, replace rotted posts, beams and floors, and file that permit before work starts.View Service
08Decks & Covered PatiosAny deck more than 30 inches above the ground is on Jeannette's residential permit form. We file it, dig footings below frost and set guards wherever the height calls for them.View ServiceAround the Glass City
Jeannette packs a downtown, a factory district and hillside streets into under two and a half square miles. Five spots, with a note on remodeling near each.
Downtown · 501 Clay Avenue
The glassmakers named the main street for Richard W. Clay, the backer who helped pay for their works. The Elliott Group Amphitheater at 501 Clay Avenue now hosts events, and a request goes to council a month ahead.
12th to 15th streets
Flooding and sewer backups hit 12th through 15th streets for years. The county authority's $14.3 million fix, financed in 2024, takes out storm catch basins and lays bigger pipe. Until it is done, basements here get planned for water.
The Elliott plant
Elliott Company moved to Jeannette in 1914 and builds turbines at its plant on North 4th Street, the city's largest employer. In 2018 it won approval to buy the old Jeannette Glass site downtown and expand there.
110 S. Second · City Hall
City Hall at 110 South Second Street holds the code and zoning office, open 7:30 to 3:30 on weekdays. Additions, decks, sheds, fences and pools all go through it. We bring the drawings in and book the inspections from there.
A city park for rent
The city rents out Altman Park for gatherings, $150 for a resident's weekend in its 2024 rates, and keeps it alcohol-free. A weekday costs residents $75, and every rental carries a $50 security deposit, paid as a separate check.
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Who Does the Work
Jeannette is east of our Trafford shop, and the same carpenters who measure your basement or porch come back to build it. They pull the city permits, run the debris and stay through the final inspection.
The usual way
The AllTrades way
Jeannette Through the Year
An older Jeannette house meets wet snow on the porch roof, a steady run of soaking days and, every few years, a storm the sewers cannot carry. Here is how each one changes the way we build.
Heavy snowfalls
~3Days a year with 3+ inches of snow
A few times a winter, three inches or more fall in a day, and wet snow sits on porch roofs that were framed generations ago. When we rebuild a porch roof, we size rafters and posts for that load.
Soaking days
~25Soaking days, half an inch plus
About twenty-five days a year bring at least half an inch of rain, and each one tests gutters, downspouts and the grade beside the foundation. We fix where that water lands before finishing anything below it.
The July 2019 storm
3.71 inRain at the county sewer plant, July 2019
In July 2019 the county authority's plant recorded 3.71 inches in one day, and Jeannette firefighters took 38 calls, most for sewage in basements. Finished space below grade here gets planned around a storm that size.
Snow and rain days: Pittsburgh International Airport, 1991–2020 normals (NOAA). The July 2019 storm: Tribune-Review. TribLive: the July 2019 basement flooding (opens in a new tab)
Building in Jeannette
One city office for permits, a sewer system that backs up in hard rain, and radon readings that run high. Each one shapes the schedule from the first visit.
City HallBuilding code and zoning, one office
Jeannette's own Department of Building and Code enforces both the state construction code and the city's zoning ordinance from City Hall on South Second Street. Additions, decks, sheds, fences and pools all go through that one office, so we file both reviews there together and stay on site for the inspector.
Jeannette code and zoning enforcement (opens in a new tab)$14.3MSewer flooding fix, financed 2024
In parts of the city, storm water and sewage run through the same pipes, and a July 2019 downpour pushed both up through West Jeannette basements. The county authority's fix was set to start in 2025. Until your street is done, plan a finished basement for water and ask a plumber about a backwater valve.
TribLive: the Jeannette flood project (opens in a new tab)41%Jeannette tests over the action level
Of nearly 3,900 Jeannette radon tests on file with the state, about four in ten were high enough that the state recommends a fix. Before anyone sleeps or plays in a basement, test it, and have any mitigation system installed before the new walls close up.
PA DEP: Radon in the Home (opens in a new tab)Where Else We Build
Greensburg, Hempfield, Irwin and Harrison City are all close to Jeannette, and the same Trafford crew works all four.
Jeannette, Answered
The sale question, the dumpster rule and the sewer come up first with a Jeannette remodel. Five short answers.
Ask a QuestionNot an owner-occupied one, as far as the city's published rules go. Its occupancy permit covers properties that are not owner-occupied: the fire department inspects before a new tenant moves in, for $100 a unit, and again every ten years. Buying to rent? Plan for that inspection.
Jeannette occupancy permits (opens in a new tab)For a private one, yes. Bringing in a roll-off from a private company takes a city permit at $60 a week, and the city's trash pickup will not take most building materials. On our jobs, we pull that permit and haul the debris ourselves.
The county's Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County, owner of the city's sewer system since 2015. Its $14.3 million project targets the shared storm and sewer lines behind West Jeannette's backups. A backwater valve on your own line is a plumber's job, and worth asking about first.
TribLive: the Jeannette flood project (opens in a new tab)Very little on the state's map. One confirmed-mining area reaches into the city, but it covers only a small piece, and most of Jeannette sits outside it. A quick address lookup on the state's map settles it for your lot before an addition goes on.
Check your address on the state's mine subsidence map (opens in a new tab)Yes. Jeannette's residential building permit form asks whether the site lies in an identified flood hazard area, and if so, whether any of it will be built on. We check your lot against the federal flood map before we draw, so that answer is right.
Jeannette permit forms (opens in a new tab)Verified Google Reviews
5.0 out of 5 · 17 reviews
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
