Westinghouse planned Trafford as a factory town on a hillside in 1902, and houses of five rooms are still the norm. When yours runs short, our carpenters come over from the shop on Forest Avenue, check the lot and the sewer line, and build onto the house with the same care it was built with.
Trafford Additions
Some 42% of Trafford's houses top out at two bedrooms, and half its owners moved in from 2010 on. An addition here is usually one well-built room, not a wing.
About 42% of the borough's homes stop at two bedrooms. With kids in 32% of households, a couple who began with one bedroom and a nursery soon wonders where a third could fit.
A single-story bedroom off the rear wall, or one framed above a new back room, with floor heights matched to the old house. A closet goes into the plan, and a duct from the furnace keeps it as warm as the rooms upstairs.
Room additionsIn houses this size the kitchen may seat only two. Families who cook at home want several more feet of floor, enough for a table, a pantry cabinet or two people working side by side.
A bump-out on new footings, the old back wall replaced by a beam, the floor carried through level. If the job's value crosses the borough's threshold, the borough tests the sewer lateral before issuing the permit, and we line that up.
Bump-outsSome older Trafford houses have a single bathroom, upstairs. Their owners want a powder room plus hooks for coats and boots at the back door, so nobody tracks through the house to wash up.
A compact rear room holding a toilet, lavatory and bench, set on footings below frost. Those two fixtures, on a job above $10,000, bring the lateral test into play, so Public Works gets booked before we file.
Bump-outsAbout 27% of Trafford houses are attached to a neighbor or split into two units. Owners of one half wonder whether they can add on at the back without touching the neighbor's side or the wall between them.
Often yes, on your own lot and behind your own half. The new room stays clear of the shared wall's fire separation, and the roof is built so water runs off your side, not onto the neighbor's.
The wall between unitsOn the hillside streets, owners want covered space off the kitchen: a dry seat through a summer rain and a place for the grill, with steps down to a sloping yard.
Porches and decks are on the borough's building permit form, so we file with a plot plan and drawings. Posts sit on footings, the roof is framed back to the house wall, and guards and stairs meet code where the ground drops away.
Sunrooms and porchesBrush Creek flooding keeps coming up at council from South Trafford. Owners down there still want space, and they ask whether adding on is allowed, or sensible, on their lot.
The borough's zoning won't permit building or altering where a site floods from time to time, so the lot's history and the flood map come first. Where an addition fits, we may build up instead of out and keep it above the wet ground.
What we check firstHomes and owners: Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, Borough of Trafford. Flood and shed rules: Trafford zoning, Chapter 202.
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 the Borough
Trafford additions pass through the code official's office, often run into the lateral test, and must clear a zoning rule most towns lack: nothing new on ground that floods.
24 hrsNotice to book an inspection
Applications need a lot drawing, plans in duplicate and the deed; the sewage hookup is verified when the permit issues; and every inspection needs 24 hours' notice. The kitchen remodeling page for Trafford lists it all. We put the set together.
Trafford permits, explained$20,000Value that brings the sewer test
Jobs over $20,000, or over $10,000 with two or more plumbing fixtures, require a leak test on your building sewer before the permit clears. Exemptions are listed on Trafford's attic finishing page, and we call Public Works early.
The lateral test, explained§202-9No new building on flooded sites
Trafford's zoning ordinance bars erecting or altering a building on a site that has experienced periodic flooding. Near Brush Creek, that one line can settle whether an addition goes ahead, so we ask the borough about your lot's record before drawing.
Brush Creek and TraffordAddition Questions
What Trafford owners want settled first. Our main additions service page covers construction start to finish.
Ask a QuestionSize, foundation and plumbing decide it, plus anything the sewer test turns up. A plain room on a flat yard is the modest job; a hillside foundation, a new bath or fixing a leaking lateral raise it. After walking the lot together, we put a figure in writing.
Addition price rangesNot in R-1, which allows single-family houses only. The R-2 district lists doubles and multifamily buildings, so a second unit there is a zoning question to settle first. A suite inside your own household sidesteps that, and the borough hears about it before we draw.
In-law suitesNo. Trafford's shed rules allow one per home, behind the house, at least 2 feet off the side lines, no bigger than 12 by 12 feet and 8 feet tall, and with no electric service. For lights and outlets, it has to be an addition or a garage instead.
Garage buildsNot according to DEP. Its subsidence map shows no confirmed mining within the borough, and the closest mapped area sits a third to half a mile beyond the line. Looking up your address before a big foundation is free and confirms it.
Check the state's mine subsidence map (opens in a new tab)The borough issues an occupancy permit at every change of ownership, and it won't issue one without a current sewer lateral inspection. If the addition already set off the lateral test, that report counts for three years, which can save a step at closing.
Trafford at saleOther Services
Out of that same shop we remodel kitchens and bathrooms across Trafford, make rooms out of attics and cellars, and repair porches up and down the hill. 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
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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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Shop
529 Forest Ave
Trafford, PA 15085
