We keep our workshop in this borough, so its basements are familiar ground: foundry-era cellars, fifties block, a floor drain nobody has looked at in years. Our carpenters dry them, check what the drain connects to, and finish them into rooms.
Trafford Basements
Trafford's houses are mostly older than 1960, and their owners are often new to them. That mix of fresh owners and old basements shapes almost everything we're asked to build downstairs.
Since 2010, half of Trafford's owner households have arrived, and 39% of owners are younger than 45. Some are in a first house with a budget to match, and they ask whether the basement can be finished a piece at a time.
Yes, if the order is right. Water, wiring and any plumbing go in first, with inspections, so they're never torn out later. Framing and insulation can follow, and the finish layers, from drywall to trim, can wait a season if they have to.
How a basement job runsA five-room house is the borough's typical size, and kids live in 32% of its households. When the toys outgrow the living room, parents look downstairs for the space the house never had.
One open room with a cushioned floor over the slab, bright lights, outlets with tamper-resistant covers and a door at the stairs. Built-in bins under the stair and along one wall keep the floor clear at night.
Playrooms and family roomsIn 42% of Trafford homes there are only one or two bedrooms. A growing family or a roommate needs another, and downstairs may be the only floor with space, as long as the room can be escaped by window.
The foundation gets an escape window big enough for the code's 5.7-square-foot opening and a dug well outside, add a smoke alarm tied to the others, and give the room its own heat supply so it's as warm as the bedrooms upstairs.
Basement bedroomsAn older basement may come with a floor drain or a laundry line that runs into the sewer lateral, and some have a sump tied in too. Owners want to know what theirs connects to before the floor gets covered.
We trace each drain, cap anything that lets groundwater into the sewer, and route a sump outdoors. The cleanout stays reachable behind an access panel, so a borough camera inspection never means tearing out finished work.
What older basements hideAttached houses and two-unit buildings account for 27% of the borough's homes. Owners and landlords want each unit's share of the basement finished, storage and laundry included, without weakening the wall between them.
We frame inside the separation wall, never through it, give each side its own laundry hookup and lockable storage, and keep every penetration sealed with fire-rated material, so the separation the code requires stays whole.
Separation walls, explainedResidents along Brush Creek in South Trafford have told council about flooding more than once. Owners there still want a usable basement, just one that can take a bad night without a full rebuild.
A pump in the sump with its own battery and an alarm, tile or rigid vinyl over the slab, the drywall stopping short of the slab behind the baseboard, and receptacles mounted a little high. Storage on shelves, never on the floor.
Flood-ready finishesHomes and owners: Census Bureau, ACS 2020–2024, Borough of Trafford.
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 the Borough
Trafford reads a basement job through its sewer lateral with unusual care. Here's how its permit threshold, its cleanout and inflow rules and the wall in a two-unit house come into play.
$10,000With two or more plumbing fixtures
A basement with a new bath can reach the borough's trigger: work over $10,000 with two or more plumbing fixtures, or over $20,000 of any kind, means the lateral gets tested ahead of the building permit. Our Trafford kitchen page covers the test and its exemptions.
The lateral test, explained30 in.Private cleanout, from the building
Trafford's code wants a private cleanout no more than 30 inches from the house when a lateral is new or replaced, and it calls a lateral with unpermitted connections or groundwater getting in a public nuisance. A sump piped into it would be one. We keep both rules in mind downstairs.
Trafford Code §160-39 and §160-40 (opens in a new tab)R302.3Two-family separation, foundation up
In a two-unit house, the residential code's fire separation runs from the footing up to the roof deck, basement included. Finishing either side means framing in front of it, not through it. Our Trafford attic page has more on that wall.
The separation wall, explainedBasement Questions
Questions Trafford owners ask before their basement gets walls. For everything else, the basement finishing page has it.
Ask a QuestionIt depends on the walls, the water and whether a bath goes in. A dry basement finished in one room is the low end; drainage, an escape window, or a bath that also triggers the borough's lateral test add to it. Expect the number on paper once we've been down there.
Typical basement pricesYes, on Forest Avenue. Trafford is our home borough, so we already know its permit package, the lateral rules and the creeks. It also keeps a Trafford job close for the crew, and a question about the work gets answered quickly.
About AllTradesIt can. The 15085 also covers corners of two neighboring townships, and about one radon reading in three there was at or above the action level. Test ahead of framing; a high number means the mitigation system is installed ahead of the walls.
Radon in TraffordInsulate the block walls and the band joist, seal the gaps where cold air gets in, and run a heating duct and a return air path into the room. With gas heating most Trafford homes, extending the ducts is usually the simplest way.
Heating a basementYes. A layer of rigid foam or insulated subfloor panels over the slab takes the chill out of the floor and keeps it a little drier. It costs some headroom, so we measure first; in a low basement, we may insulate the walls and use rugs instead.
Basement floorsOther Services
From the same Forest Avenue shop, our crew handles Trafford kitchens, baths, attics and porches as well. 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
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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.
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
