Above the plaster ceilings of an older Jeannette house sits a roof framed by hand, a floor of loose boards and maybe a century of things nobody wanted to carry down. Our carpenters clear it, check what is in it, and build a room.
Jeannette Attics
About 1,500 Jeannette houses were already standing when the borough was chartered as a city, its typical home dates to 1952, and many owners are new to their houses. Those old roofs hold rooms worth finishing.
Some 1,500 Jeannette homes predate the city's 1938 charter. Their roofs are hand-framed rafters, often with room to stand down the middle, but the floor under them was laid for storage and was never meant to hold a bedroom full of furniture.
Rafters are inspected one by one for size, dips and patch jobs, extra joists go in to carry living loads, and lay a plywood deck over boards that were only meant for storage. Old wiring found up there goes to an electrician first.
What we find up thereForty-seven percent of Jeannette's owners arrived after 2009, buying houses whose median value sits near $114,400. New owners who need one more bedroom want it added without spending more than the house can ever return.
A simple plan: work with the height the roof already has, leave out a dormer if the room works without one, and spend on a sound floor, a real stair, insulation and an egress window. Finishes stay practical.
Attic cost rangesRenters occupy a third of Jeannette's homes, and the fire department walks through each rented unit before a new tenant signs. A landlord adding an attic bedroom wants it finished, safe and documented well before that walk-through is scheduled.
Alarms inside the bedroom and in the hall below, a code-compliant egress opening, handrails on the new stair and permitted circuits throughout, with durable floors for turnover. The room is ready before the inspection is booked, not after.
Jeannette rental rulesSingle-person households make up about 43 percent of the city. Up under the roof, someone living alone can claim the room they actually want: a studio, a reading room or an office set well back from the noise of the street.
Light through the gable or a roof window, outlets placed for a desk or an easel, a mini-split for comfort, and shelving built into the low side walls. A solid door turns it into a room of your own.
Home offices and studiosAbout 41 percent of Jeannette's owners are past 65. When children and grandchildren come for a holiday, a proper guest room upstairs spares the living room couch and keeps the main floor free for everyday life.
A bedroom at the peak with storage in the low corners and an exit-size window, reached by a well-lit stair, railed on both sides when the width allows. Insulation at the roofline keeps it comfortable whatever month the family visits.
Attic bedrooms and suitesOld Jeannette roofs can be tall at the peak but steep, so standing room narrows quickly toward the eaves. Owners want a wider strip at full height without changing what the house looks like from the street.
A dormer framed into the rear slope widens the full-height area, and the street-facing side stays exactly as it was. We frame it into the old rafters, flash it into the shingles and match the trim.
Dormers and headroomFigures: ACS 2020–2024 (U.S. Census Bureau), rounded. Vermiculite guidance: the federal EPA.
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 Jeannette
The city's permit applies to an attic like any renovation. Two more things matter when the work starts above a prewar ceiling: what the old insulation might be, and how the debris leaves the house.
City HallPermits for interior alterations
Interior renovations go on the city's residential permit form at City Hall, and rentals are inspected by the fire department between tenants. Our Jeannette kitchen page explains both in detail. An attic job travels the same road, and we submit the permit.
Jeannette rules, explained1920s–1990Years Libby vermiculite was sold
Loose, pebbly gray-brown insulation between attic joists may be vermiculite, and the EPA cautions that vermiculite mined at Libby, Montana, and sold until 1990 can carry asbestos. It should not be disturbed. If we see it, work stops until accredited professionals deal with it.
EPA: vermiculite insulation (opens in a new tab)$60/wkDumpster permit, per week
Curbside pickup refuses most construction waste, and an attic job fills a container fast: old boards, plaster dust, insulation and a century of leftovers. Parking a dumpster out front takes the city's $60-a-week permit, which we get, along with the hauling.
Jeannette rules, explainedAttic Questions
Five questions we hear in Jeannette before anything comes down from an attic. The whole job is on our attic finishing page.
Ask a QuestionHow much the old framing needs, where a stair fits and how tall the roof is set most of it. Clearing a packed attic, hauling debris and any vermiculite work by specialists add more. We put the price in writing after a trip up there with a flashlight and a tape.
Attic cost rangesLeave it alone and do not store things in it. Federal guidance says to leave possible asbestos vermiculite undisturbed and to use trained, accredited abatement crews if removal is needed. We stop work and coordinate that removal before building anything up there.
EPA: vermiculite insulation (opens in a new tab)They can, so we plan around it. Reinforcing joists above an old plaster ceiling means working carefully, screwing instead of hammering where we can, and protecting the rooms below. Any cracks that appear are patched and painted before we leave.
How an attic job runsIn a rental, yes. Jeannette's fire department checks a rented unit before each new tenant, and a bedroom upstairs counts as part of it. We build it with smoke alarms, an escape window and a railed stair so the visit goes smoothly.
Jeannette rental rulesWe go up together, look at the rafters and the floor, measure from floor to peak and identify the insulation. Then we look downstairs for a spot a stair could land. By the end you know whether a room fits up there and what it would take.
How an attic job runsOther Services
Elsewhere in Glass City houses, our crew redoes kitchens, protects basement baths from backups and repairs old porches. Every service has a card 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
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.
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
