A young family in a two-bedroom house, a foundry-era roof over a dusty plank floor, a home office balanced on the dining table. Trafford is our home base, and up under the roof is where we often find the room a family needs.
Trafford Attics
Trafford's houses lean old, its owners lean young, and many of them have children. Small prewar homes and growing families make the attic the natural place to find another room.
Westinghouse started building its foundry here in 1902, and roughly a third of Trafford's houses are from before 1940. Roofs that old are nearly always hand-framed rafters: open inside, but often lighter than a living space calls for.
Each rafter is checked for size, dips and past fixes, new lumber is bolted beside weak ones, and the ceiling joists are doubled to make a real floor. Then the roofline is insulated and the old board floor comes up.
What we find up thereTwo-bedroom houses account for 453 Trafford homes, and two in five owners are under 45. When a second child comes along, a house that size shrinks quickly, and the attic is usually the only way to gain a room without selling.
The bed goes beneath the ridge; we cut an egress window into the gable, wire a smoke alarm, tuck storage into the low sides and bring up a proper stair. The room is sized to the house, not overbuilt.
Attic bedrooms and suitesKids live in 456 of Trafford's 1,413 households, mostly in modest houses with few spare rooms. Toys end up everywhere, and parents want one room upstairs where they can stay out when guests come over.
The floor gets stiffened for jumping, sound batts keep the noise upstairs, and bins and shelves fill the short walls. Lighting goes on a dimmer for movie nights. Carpet or durable vinyl plank stands up to spills and dragged furniture.
Playrooms and bonus roomsPlenty of Trafford owners work from home at least part of the week, and in a small house the desk lands wherever there is space. The ask is a real office upstairs, away from the kitchen and the kids.
The desk goes where the ceiling is tallest, with its own circuit, wired internet and daylight from the gable or a skylight. Insulated walls and a solid door keep video calls private from the rest of the family.
Home offices and studiosThe median Trafford house is valued near $147,000. Owners want an attic room that adds real living space and appeal to a house like that, without spending more than it can return when it is time to sell.
That calls for a plain plan: keep the roof as it is where possible, skip the dormer if the height is already there, and spend on the floor, the stair, insulation and durable finishes buyers notice.
Attic cost rangesRoughly 450 Trafford homes share a wall with a neighbor, and in some of them the attic runs right across the property line, and the wall separating them has to be complete to the roof before either side becomes a room.
The separation wall gets inspected, carried up to the sheathing in fire-rated board wherever it falls short, and sealed tight. Your room is built on your side, and the neighbor's side is left as it was.
Full attic conversionsFigures: ACS 2020–2024 (U.S. Census Bureau). Foundry date: the borough's historical marker.
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 Trafford
Every Trafford remodel goes through the same permit package, attics included. The borough's sewer rule matters as well, since it hinges on job size, and adding a bath upstairs lowers the bar.
2 setsPlans with every permit
The borough asks for a site plan, duplicate drawings and the deed with each application, plus a day's notice before every inspection. Details are on our Trafford kitchen page. Drawings and scheduling are our job, and each inspection is set as the work reaches that stage.
Trafford rules, explained$20,000Job value that triggers the test
Before it approves a permit, Trafford cameras the sewer lateral on jobs worth more than $20,000, a bar that falls to $10,000 when the work touches two or more fixtures. An attic bath adds fixtures, so we sort out which threshold applies at the walkthrough.
Trafford Code §160-44 (opens in a new tab)Forest Ave.The AllTrades shop
Because the shop is in the borough, a Trafford attic is minutes from our crew. With inspections booked a day out, and questions that come up mid-job about a stair or a rafter, being close keeps the work moving and nobody waits on us.
Building in TraffordAttic Questions
Trafford neighbors usually ask us these five about their attics. Our attic page explains each stage in order.
Ask a QuestionOld framing, stair placement and any dormer set most of it. A bath upstairs adds plumbing and can change the sewer-test math. After measuring we write the price down for you, and the attic service page posts usual ranges. Nothing is added later without your sign-off.
Attic cost rangesOften, when the room is planned in proportion. A bedroom added to a two-bedroom house changes how it lives and how it sells. The key is keeping structure and finishes sensible, so the cost fits what the house is worth. We show you the trade-offs before you commit.
Attic bedrooms and suitesUsually over the existing stair, inside a closet off the hall or against a bedroom's back wall. Code wants three feet of width and full headroom over every tread, so some floor space below gets used. We draw the options so you can choose.
Stairs and accessUsually, yes. Nearly everything happens overhead. When the floor is opened for the stair, we seal the area with plastic and run air cleaners, and we keep tools and debris out of the living space. We tell you the dusty days in advance.
How an attic job runsWe do. Trafford wants a day's notice for each inspection, and we schedule them as the framing, wiring and insulation are ready, so the work never sits waiting on a visit. You only need to make sure someone can let the inspector in.
Trafford rules, explainedOther Services
From the shop we also handle Trafford kitchens, baths, porches and tired framing. 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
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
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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.
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
