A 1960s home in Holiday Park, a nineties four-bedroom up the hill, a company house in Logans Ferry Heights: Plum's basements come in every age. Our carpenters check the walls and the water first, then build the room your family is short.
Plum Basements
Plum's population doubled during the sixties and the building went on into the 2000s, so its basements range from company-town cellars to ones a few decades old. Here's what owners ask us to make of them.
Close to 74% of houses in the borough hold three or four bedrooms; three households in ten include kids. With everyone home at night, one living room falls short, so owners want a second one downstairs.
A couch wall wired for the TV, recessed lights on two switches, sound batts overhead to spare the bedrooms, and flooring made for concrete. Supply and return ducts keep the room as warm as the one above it.
Family roomsSome 200 homes make up Logans Ferry Heights, built a century ago for the Logans Ferry Mine's workers. Their cellars are a century old, and owners ask whether one can be more than storage.
Sometimes the right answer is a clean, dry, well-lit laundry and storage room rather than living space. Where the height and walls allow, we repoint, waterproof, insulate and finish a small den or office, and tell you which before you spend anything.
Old cellars, honestly assessedPlum's slopes move: slides have closed Boda Road and, in 2023, four state roads together. Soil pressing on a hillside basement can push a block wall inward, and owners ask about it before covering anything up.
We measure how far the wall has moved and whether it's still moving. Minor bowing gets braced with steel beams or straps anchored top and bottom; serious movement gets an engineer before anything else. Drainage outside comes with either.
Wall repair before finishingOwners 65 and older hold 38% of Plum's homes, and grandkids and grown children come back for holidays. A downstairs guest room must have a way out by window, which usually means digging a well outside first.
We cut the foundation for a window that opens 5.7 square feet or wider, set a well wide enough to stand in, with a ladder if it's deep, and drain the well bottom so it doesn't become a pond against the glass.
Egress windowsA house with kids often ends up as the house where everyone gathers. Parents ask for a downstairs room for Friday game nights, sleepovers and the console, close enough to keep an ear on and far enough to get some quiet.
Durable floors, a ceiling insulated for sound, outlets around the room, a snack corner with its own power, plus a bath close by if the plumbing allows. Built-in benches with storage give the room somewhere to put the sleeping bags.
Game and media roomsWinters here are long: the Pittsburgh airport averages more than 110 nights a year at freezing or below. Owners want a basement gym so the morning workout doesn't depend on the roads or the weather.
Rubber flooring over a leveled slab, a mirror wall, power for the treadmill and bike, and enough clear height to press a bar overhead. Air moves through a dehumidifier and a fan, so it never smells like a locker room.
Home gymsHomes and households: Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, Plum Borough. Winter nights: NOAA 1991–2020 normals for the Pittsburgh airport.
The rest of the job
How it runs, what it costs and who builds it are on our main basement finishing page.
A Basement in Plum
Plum's borough office handles the building and occupancy permits, Allegheny County handles the plumbing, and anything dug outside starts with a call to PA One Call. Here's how each touches a basement job.
2 yearsOccupancy permit, at most this often
Any structural change is borough-permitted work, and new owners or residents mean an occupancy permit, at most once in two years. Both are spelled out on our Plum kitchen page, so finishing now won't surprise you at sale.
Plum permits, explained$80County plan fee, up to 5 fixtures
A basement bath, bar sink or laundry move in Plum needs Allegheny County's plumbing permit, and the plan gets the county's approval first, inspections along the way and a final one at the end. Fees run by plan size and fixture. Our Plum bathroom page has the fee list.
Allegheny County plumbing, explained3–10 daysPA One Call notice, business days
Digging a window well or a drain line can hit a gas service, cable or water pipe. PA One Call asks for three to ten business days' notice before you dig. In a borough where 85% of homes heat with gas, we make the call before the shovel.
PA One Call for homeowners (opens in a new tab)Basement Questions
Owners across Plum ask us these before a basement gets walls. For the full job, see the basement finishing service.
Ask a QuestionIt depends on where the house sits in Plum's history. A dry nineties basement costs least; a bowing block wall, an egress well cut through the foundation or a county-permitted bath with an ejector pump add to it. Your written price follows one visit.
Typical costsCommon enough to test every time. In the 15239, which sits entirely inside Plum, roughly one result in three on the state's list reached the action level. Test before framing; a high reading puts the mitigation system ahead of the walls.
Radon in PlumNot always. If the walls and floor stay clean and odor-free through a wet spring, a sump may never earn its keep. Some owners still have us set an empty sump pit while the floor is open, so a pump can go in later without breaking finished work.
Basement waterIt will if it's insulated and heated like a room. With gas heating 85% of Plum homes, we usually extend a supply and a return from the furnace, insulate the walls and rim joists, and seal the gaps where cold air sneaks in.
Heating and insulationYes. We box the main beam into a clean soffit, wrap the steel posts in trim or a column cover, and plan the room so the posts land in a wall or at a counter. Nothing gets cut or moved without knowing what it carries.
Ceilings and soffitsOther Services
The crew that finishes Plum basements also takes on kitchens, baths, attics and hillside decks across the borough. Pick 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
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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hello@alltradeshq.com
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529 Forest Ave
Trafford, PA 15085
