Close to half of the homes in Level Green date from 1940 to 1959, and half their owners bought before 2000. When yours is a room short, we work out footings for the clay before anything else and match the new work to a house you've looked after for years.
Level Green Additions
In Level Green, 83% of homes have either three or four bedrooms. A member over 65 lives in half of all households, while a fifth of the houses are this century's, often with kids inside. Both groups call us about adding on.
Someone older than 65 lives in half the households here, most often a couple. They aren't leaving the street; they'd just like to sleep and shower downstairs, so the staircase becomes optional.
A wing on one level: a no-curb shower with a fold-down seat, 36-inch doorways, and wood backing behind the drywall for future rails. Its floor meets the kitchen's flush, so nothing trips anyone at night.
Primary suite additionsPostwar houses tend to put the washer down cellar. Owners worn out from hauling baskets up the steps want laundry on the main floor, near the bedrooms.
A short bump-out off the kitchen or hallway holds the hookups, a vented dryer, a folding counter and a drip pan. Its plumbing joins the existing lines, and the same room can serve as the back entry.
Bump-outsFamilies who still host every holiday in a 1940s or '50s house want one generous room behind the kitchen.
A back room with a raised ceiling under its own gable, a wide cased opening to the kitchen, plus a beam picking up the load of the removed back wall. Outside, siding and trim copy the original, so nobody sees a seam.
Room additionsThis century's houses make up about a fifth of town, and about 25% of households have children. Parents in those homes want a bright, glassed room the family will use ten months a year.
The old deck comes off or gets a real roof, insulated walls go up around big windows, and the furnace sends heat in. New footings carry the walls instead of the original deck posts.
SunroomsSome postwar houses here were built with a single bay, or no garage. Owners with a deep lot want space for two cars or a workshop, and ask where the township will let it stand.
Township zoning sets a detached building 10 feet or more from the side and back lot lines and limits outbuildings to under a third of the rear yard. We place it inside both limits before the concrete truck comes.
Garage buildsOwners who've watched a hairline crack in the cellar wall widen every April ask a fair question before adding on: how will the new foundation keep from doing the same?
Test holes come first. Then footings and drainage are sized for soil that grows and shrinks with the weather, engineered where the code requires it, and gutters and grading keep the new corner drier than the rest.
Foundations and tie-insHomes and households: Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, Level Green census place (a small area, rounded). Soils: USDA soil survey.
The rest of the job
How it runs, what it costs and who builds it are on our main additions & adus page.
Level Green Additions, Locally
Level Green builds under Penn Township's zoning, covered in full on our Harrison City page. Two more points matter here: the clay a new foundation sits in, and where water from a new roof may go.
One codeShared with Harrison City
Yard depths, lot coverage, outbuilding placement and the limit on second units inside a house are the same here as in Harrison City, and that page spells them out, so this one doesn't repeat them. Your district gets confirmed before design.
Penn Township addition rulesR403.1.8Foundations on expansive soil
Upshur clay, the soil under much of town, expands when soaked and contracts in dry spells. The residential code wants foundations on soil like that designed for the movement, unless the clay is dug out or stabilized. Our footings are planned for it from day one.
Foundations and tie-ins§144-10 DWhere downspouts must drain
Township code sends roof runoff to an approved storm line, or onto grass, plantings or a soak-in bed where that works, and never into the sanitary sewer. An addition adds downspouts, so we carry them clear of old and new walls. The drainage rule is explained on our basement page for Level Green.
The township's drainage ruleAddition Questions
These usually come up at our first Level Green visit. How the build itself unfolds is on the main service page.
Ask a QuestionMostly by size and soil. A modest room on firm, dry ground costs least; an engineered foundation for the clay, new plumbing for a bath, or going up a level over an existing wing add to it. You'll get a figure on paper after the site visit.
Addition price rangesProbably not on its own terms. The township only lists apartments carved out of a house in its business and industrial zones, not its home districts. A parent's suite inside your household works, and we raise it with the zoning office ahead of the drawings.
Penn Township addition rulesProbably not here. DEP shows no confirmed workings inside Level Green itself, though other parts of the township were mined. Typing your address into the state's subsidence lookup before a big foundation takes a minute and removes the doubt.
DEP mine subsidence lookup (opens in a new tab)It's worth a call. Penn Township's sewage authority notes that sewer backups generally aren't covered without an added rider, which it describes as inexpensive. An addition with a bathroom gives water one more way back in. The authority's full advice is on our kitchen page for Level Green.
The sewage authority's adviceIt should be. Gas heats roughly 90% of houses in town, so the usual answer is new ducts from the furnace when it has room to spare, plus insulation well beyond what the old walls hold. Where the furnace is maxed out, a ductless heat pump takes the room.
What we check firstOther Services
Our Level Green work also covers postwar kitchens, bathrooms, attics and basements, all from the shop in the same ZIP. 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
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
