Monroeville's planned subdivisions, Garden City among them, went in during the mid-fifties, sized for the families of the day. Today's households are often bigger, older, or both. Our carpenters fit a new room to the municipality's yard and slope rules, then build it to look original.
Monroeville Additions
No decade added more Monroeville houses than the 1950s did, one in four of them, and half were up by 1968. Owners who like their street but need space ask what can be built onto it.
In the mid-fifties subdivisions, owners often want one more room behind the kitchen where the couch, the TV and everyone finally fit.
A rear room on its own foundation with the floor carried level from the kitchen, a new beam carrying what the old back wall held, and windows to the yard. Outside, we copy the eave line and siding so it reads as one house.
Room additionsOf Monroeville's homeowners, 33% are 65-plus. With every bedroom upstairs, many want their bed and shower on the floor where they spend the day.
A one-level suite reached without a step, a shower with no curb to cross, a built-in seat and solid backing in the walls for rails. We size the doorways and the turning space around the bed for a walker, just in case.
Primary suite additionsAbout 41% of owners moved in since 2010. Plenty of them want a private bedroom, bath and closet set apart from the kids' rooms.
A suite with a dressing closet and a full bath, framed and roofed to the house's lines. The bath's plumbing plan goes to Allegheny County for approval before we start, along with the municipal permit.
Primary suite additionsOn older streets, owners want a covered porch out front to sit on, or shelter over the back patio, and ask how deep it can go before it hits the setback.
Monroeville lets an open porch, 12 feet deep and 15 high at most, stand inside the required yard out front or behind the house. We set its posts on footings, through-bolt every connection the way the occupancy checklist expects, and flash the roof to the house.
Sunrooms and porchesSome houses here pair a carport or single garage with a long back yard. They'd like a stand-alone garage or shop and are surprised to learn how tightly the code limits its size.
A detached building can't exceed 500 square feet or a fifth of the house, whichever is smaller, so a bigger garage often goes attached instead. Detached, it stays 10 feet from the lines and 15 feet tall on average.
Garage buildsParts of Monroeville fall under the municipality's landslide-prone and steep-slope overlays. Owners there ask whether an addition is possible at all, and what the extra review involves.
Often it is, with more work up front. A geotechnical professional investigates the soil before the zoning permit, the municipal engineer approves the plans, and we design footings and drainage to that report.
What we check firstHomes and owners: Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, Monroeville. Subdivisions: 2005 comprehensive plan. Yards and slopes: zoning, Chapter 359.
The rest of the job
How it runs, what it costs and who builds it are on our main additions & adus page.
Adding On in Monroeville
Three Monroeville rules decide where new rooms may sit and how long approval takes: the permit office's survey rule, the single-family yard table, and two overlays for unstable or steep ground.
SurveyOr plot plan, with every permit
Every application to Building & Engineering needs a survey or plot plan, its review can last several weeks, and plumbing sign-off belongs to Allegheny County. Our Monroeville kitchen page goes step by step. Assembling and filing the package is our job.
Monroeville permits, explained40 ftRear yard in both single-family districts
Each single-family district sets the front yard at 30 feet and the rear at 40. Side yards are 15 feet in R-1 and 10 in R-2, and houses stop at 35 feet tall. A corner lot keeps a front yard on each street, which can shrink the buildable area fast.
Room additions80%Left undisturbed on 26–35% slopes
In the landslide overlay, digging needs a geotechnical investigation before zoning approval. On steep-slope lots of 25% or more, retaining walls stop at 10 feet, 26–35% grades must stay 80% undisturbed, and 35%-plus ground is preserved by easement.
Foundations and tie-insAddition Questions
These come up with nearly every Monroeville addition. Our additions service page follows the whole job, start to finish.
Ask a QuestionFoundation, size and what's inside it set the range. A plain room on stable, level ground is the modest end; a hillside overlay with a geotechnical study, a suite with county-approved plumbing or a second floor climbs from there. Once we've seen your lot, the price comes to you in writing.
Addition price rangesProbably not in R-1 or R-2, the single-family districts; two-family homes are a multifamily-district use, which R-3 names outright. A suite that's part of your own home sidesteps that. Any second kitchen is raised with the municipality before it's drawn.
In-law suitesYes. Monroeville inspects every home ahead of a new occupant, and that list applies to added space too: smoke detectors on every level, and decks and porches through-bolted at the posts, rails and ledger, with no lag or carriage bolts. Our crews follow it from the first post.
The occupancy checklist (PDF) (opens in a new tab)Two accessory structures per lot, each no bigger than 500 square feet or 20% of the house. If you already have a shed and want a garage too, that's your two. A third, like a pool house, isn't allowed, so we plan the set together.
Garage buildsIn some neighborhoods. DEP's map puts roughly 26% of Monroeville over old workings, concentrated near the mall and the Route 22 commercial strip. Ordinary home coverage excludes subsidence, so search the parcel and weigh a state subsidence policy before footings go in.
Mining in MonroevilleOther Services
We also redo Monroeville kitchens and bathrooms, build out attics and basements and put up decks for these fifties and sixties houses. Choose one 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
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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
