A Holiday Park ranch with a long, quiet attic, a 1920s miner's house under a steep little roof, a newer colonial with an unfinished bonus space. Across Plum, that overhead space may be the one room left to add, and we frame and finish it.
Plum Attics
Plum's biggest building decade was the 1960s, its oldest neighborhoods go back to the 1920s, and one home in five went up between 1990 and 2009. Each era leaves a different attic, and a different way to finish it.
Plum grew fastest in the 1960s, as Holiday Park filled in, and a quarter of its houses date from then. Over a one-story house the attic may run the full length, but its joists only ever held up drywall, not a furnished bedroom.
Each joist and rafter gets measured, short ones get new lumber fastened alongside, and thick plywood goes down across the whole span. Then we find the best spot on the main floor for a stair to start, and draw the room around it.
What we find up thereThe houses of Logans Ferry Heights were built for coal miners' families about a century ago. A house that age almost certainly has hand-cut rafters, and its attic may hold wiring, patches and insulation from several different decades.
We clear the attic down to framing, have old wiring checked and replaced, reinforce rafters that have sagged or been cut, and insulate the roofline. A small dormer can add the standing room a narrow roof lacks.
Full attic conversionsMost Plum houses are built for families, and about 30 percent of households have kids. When the bedrooms fill, families want one more room upstairs for a teenager or for the toys that took over the living room.
A floor framed for real use, carpet or hardwood on a glued and screwed deck, insulation between floors so footsteps stay upstairs, and drawers set into the short side walls. A railed stair replaces the pull-down ladder.
Playrooms and bonus roomsAn attic bedroom is more useful with a bathroom nearby, and owners often ask for one up there. Here, the county health department signs off on new plumbing before it goes in, so the bath gets planned before anything else.
We set the bath over an existing one or next to the main drain stack, list each fixture on the plan the county reviews, and start building once it clears. A vented fan and a waterproofed shower come standard.
Attic bedrooms and suitesSome 2,400 Plum houses went up from 1990 through 2009, and roofs of that era are often built from factory trusses. Their diagonal webs fill the attic, and they cannot be cut away without an engineered redesign.
We identify the framing on the first visit. Some truss roofs can be redesigned by an engineer to open a room; others are better left alone, and we will tell you that and point to where the room fits better.
What we find up thereOwners past 65 make up 38 percent of Plum's homeowners, and plenty plan to stay where they are. Some want the attic finished now so the house holds its value, or so visiting family has somewhere comfortable to sleep.
We plan an attic guest room with a stair that is easy to climb, a handrail on both sides where it fits, good lighting on every step and a smoke alarm tied in. The room is finished to a standard a buyer will notice.
Stairs and accessFigures: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, Plum Borough. Neighborhood history: Tribune-Review.
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 Plum
Plum's borough office handles framing permits, the county handles pipes, and every change of owner or resident brings another inspection. Each one touches an attic job.
StructuralAlterations need a borough permit
Reinforcing attic joists, cutting a stair opening and framing a dormer are structural alterations, so Plum's Community Development office issues a building permit for the job. Our Plum kitchen page explains how that office works. We file it before demo.
Plum rules, explainedACHDReviews every new pipe
No pipe goes in until the county health department approves a drawn plumbing plan, and its inspector signs off at the end. An attic bath runs through that process like any other. Our Plum bathroom page covers the plan and its fees in detail.
Plum bathroom rulesEvery changeOccupancy permit, owners or residents
Each time a house changes owners or residents, Plum inspects it before issuing a fresh occupancy permit, no more than once in two years. An attic room built under a permit, with its inspections closed out, is one less question when that day comes.
Building in PlumAttic Questions
Five questions Plum households ask before the attic becomes part of the house. Our attic finishing service shows the work in order.
Ask a QuestionMostly what the framing needs and whether a stair and a dormer are involved. A company house with sound rafters may need little structure; a sixties ranch needs floor work and a new stair; a truss roof may need engineering. A bath adds county fees. We price after measuring.
Attic cost rangesSometimes. Code wants at least half a room's required floor at seven feet or higher and none below five, so a gentle roof may leave only a strip down the middle. A wide dormer on the rear slope can stretch that strip. We measure on the first visit.
Dormers and headroomWhen trusses are modified, when a dormer changes how the roof carries its load, or when floor spans run beyond what the code's tables cover. Many rafter attics need none. If yours does, we bring one in before drawings are final, and the stamped plan goes with the permit.
What we find up thereOnly if it meets the bedroom rules: an escape window of code size, a smoke alarm, a proper stair and enough headroom. A room built under a permit and closed out by the inspector is the strongest case. We build to those rules from the start.
Attic bedrooms and suitesYes. A ductless mini-split comes with its own controls, so the attic can run warmer or cooler than the floors below. If the furnace is extended instead, a zone damper and a second thermostat can do the same. We recommend the one that fits your system.
Heating, cooling and wiringOther Services
Around Plum we also redo sixties kitchens, build decks on sloped yards and finish dry basements. Each service has its own 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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412-730-8805
hello@alltradeshq.com
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529 Forest Ave
Trafford, PA 15085
