Our shop is on Forest Avenue, so Trafford is home base. Westinghouse laid the town out on a hillside beside its foundry in 1902, and a third of its homes were built before 1940. We remodel them a few streets from our own door.
Down the Street From Our Shop
Westinghouse laid out Trafford on a hillside beside its foundry in 1902, and a third of today's homes predate 1940. The median house went up in 1954, and three-bedroom houses lead the count. Four places we start.
On a hillside street, the front steps and porch take the weather and every trip in and out. We rebuild them on footings set deep in the slope, with even treads and rails.
In Trafford, a permit for work over $10,000 that touches two or more plumbing fixtures triggers a sewer lateral test first. We tell you up front when a kitchen or bath crosses that line.
The sewer line between your house and the street is tested for leaks before a sale, a refinance or a big remodel's permit. A certificate lasts three years, so one test can cover both.
A back porch this old has often been patched over the years. We take it down to sound framing, rebuild it on proper footings and pull the borough's porch permit for you.
Borough of Trafford Census figures (ACS 2020–2024). The plan shows a typical hillside house, not one address. Trafford on Census Reporter (opens in a new tab)
What We Build Here
Trafford's houses are older than most on our list, and the borough ties some remodels to a sewer test. Both shape each job below, run from our shop on Forest Avenue.
01Kitchen RemodelingA full kitchen remodel can cross the borough's line for a sewer lateral test, so we schedule that test before the permit. Then we gut, frame, set the cabinets and finish it ourselves.View Service
02Bathroom RemodelingPrewar baths sit over joists notched for pipes more than once. We open the floor, sister what is weak, then seal the walls against water and lay new tile before anything else goes in.View Service
03Attic FinishingUnder a steep prewar roof there may be space for a bedroom. Rafters and floor joists get checked first, then we insulate the roof and frame the knee walls before the drywall.View Service
04Basement FinishingBasements this old were built for a furnace and storage, not for living. We fix the water first and measure the headroom, then insulate, frame and finish it into a room you use.View Service
05Additions & ADUsAdding a room takes two sets of plans, a plot plan and footings set for the slope. We draw it, file it on Brinton Avenue with the borough and build it to blend in.View Service
06Windows & Exterior DoorsOld wood windows in a prewar house rattle and let in drafts. We replace them at the existing size, rebuild rotted sills and trim them so the front of the house keeps its look.View Service
07Exterior Restoration & Structural RepairsBrush Creek and Turtle Creek keep the valley damp, and older siding and sills show it. We cut out the rot, put back new lumber and fix the flashing that let water in.View Service
08Decks & Covered PatiosPorches and decks need a borough building permit, and a retaining wall up to four feet takes a zoning permit. On a sloping lot a project can need both, so we file them together.View ServiceTrafford, Block by Block
Trafford packs a main street, a trailhead and a creekside neighborhood into under a square and a half mile. Five spots, with the detail that matters for a job in each.
The main street
Cavitt Avenue is the borough's main street, and its name echoes Cavittsville, what the area was called after John Cavett built his home and a fulling mill along Brush Creek in 1790, more than a century before the borough.
414 Brinton · the borough office
The borough office sits at 414 Brinton Avenue, where building, zoning and occupancy permits are filed, and Trafford Middle School is on East Brinton. We drop off plans there ourselves, a short trip from the shop.
Westmoreland Heritage Trail
The Trafford Trail Access near B-Y Park starts the Westmoreland Heritage Trail's 5.9-mile stretch to Murrysville, opened in 2017. The borough rents out three pavilions at B-Y Park for gatherings through the warmer months.
The foundry marker
A 2024 marker at Fifth Street and Brinton Avenue tells how Westinghouse bought land near Stewart's Station in 1902 and opened its iron foundry on October 3, 1903. In houses that early, we plan for plaster and old framing.
Brush Creek · Highland and Wallace
South Trafford residents have told council about frequent Brush Creek flooding, and in June 2025 the underpass that serves the neighborhood flooded badly. On creekside lots, finished space and new framing go above the waterline.
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Who Does the Work
Trafford is where our shop is, so a job here is a short drive for the same carpenters who measured it. They build it from demo to trim and walk it with you at the end.
The usual way
The AllTrades way
Trafford Through the Year
Brush Creek meets Turtle Creek in Trafford, and the town climbs the hill above them. Water comes down the slope and up from the creeks, and every season brings some of each.
Winter on the hill
~114Nights at or below freezing
Frost works on steps, walks and porch footings that sit on the steep hillside. Anything we build outdoors goes on footings set deep enough that the freezing ground cannot heave them over a winter.
Spring on the slope
2019Brinton Avenue slide repaired
Thawed, soaked hillsides move: the borough repaired a slide at Seventh Street and Brinton Avenue in 2019. On sloped lots we look at the grade and the drainage above any footing before we dig.
Summer downpours
3.96 inRain in Trafford, June 6, 2025
On June 6, 2025, Trafford got the region's highest measured rainfall, 3.96 inches. When we finish a basement or build near the creek, we plan for a day like that, not an ordinary shower.
Freezing nights: Pittsburgh International Airport normals (NOAA). Rainfall: National Weather Service via the Tribune-Review. Slide repair: Trafford Borough council minutes. Tribune-Review: the June 2025 storm (opens in a new tab)
Building in Trafford
Trafford ties its sewer test to sales, to occupancy and even to bigger remodels. These are the three rules we plan every job around.
$20,000Remodel value that sets off a sewer test
A building or plumbing permit for work valued over $20,000, or over $10,000 with two or more plumbing fixtures, requires a sewer lateral test first, and the certificate comes before the permit. Only the borough's public works crew does the $250 inspection, so we book it early.
Trafford sewer lateral rules (§160-44) (opens in a new tab)$100Occupancy inspection
Any change in occupancy, ownership or use needs a borough occupancy permit, for a sale or a rental, and the borough holds it until a current sewer lateral report is on file. Selling once the work is done? We leave time in the schedule for both inspections.
Trafford occupancy permits (Ch. 138) (opens in a new tab)21 daysLead time before closing
Separately, a seller needs the borough's certificate of compliance, applied for at least 21 days before the sale with a $50 fee, and the borough may dye-test for illegal connections. A remodel that moves downspouts or drains should be finished well before then, so the test sees the final layout.
Trafford certificate of compliance (§160-27) (opens in a new tab)Where Else We Build
Level Green is right next door in Penn Township, and Monroeville, North Huntingdon and Murrysville are all a short drive from our shop. One crew covers them all from here.
From Our Home Borough
The sewer test, the occupancy permit and the creeks come up most in our own borough. Five answers.
Ask a QuestionIt might. In Trafford, a building or plumbing permit for work over $20,000, or over $10,000 with two or more plumbing fixtures, needs a sewer lateral test first, unless the line was recently installed or repaired. The certificate has to come before the permit is approved.
Trafford sewer lateral rules (§160-44) (opens in a new tab)Three things: an occupancy permit, which needs a current sewer lateral report; the lateral test itself, required at sale or refinance for older lines; and the borough's certificate of compliance, applied for 21 days ahead, which may include a dye test.
Trafford occupancy permits (Ch. 138) (opens in a new tab)The borough's own building code official, through the office at 414 Brinton Avenue. The application asks for a plot plan, two sets of building plans and a copy of the deed, and inspections need 24 hours' notice. We put the package together for you.
Not on the state's map. No confirmed-mining areas fall inside the borough; the nearest mapped area sits a few hundred meters outside it. Flooding along Brush Creek and the hillside slopes are the bigger ground questions here, so we check flood maps first.
Check your address on the state's mine subsidence map (opens in a new tab)Yes. Roughly one in three of the state registry's 1,900-plus tests from the 15085 ZIP, which also covers nearby parts of Penn and North Huntingdon townships, came back at 4 picocuries per liter or more. Have it tested before a basement is finished, and mitigate first if needed.
PA DEP: Radon in the Home (opens in a new tab)Verified 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.
Call or Text
412-730-8805
hello@alltradeshq.com
Hours
Mon–Fri · 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Closed Sat & Sun
Shop
529 Forest Ave
Trafford, PA 15085
