White Oak became a borough in 1948, carved out of Versailles Township, and took its name from a stand of white oaks near the first town site. Almost two-thirds of its homes were standing by 1960, and we remodel their kitchens, baths and porches.
Inside a White Oak Home
Picture a house of about six rooms, two or three bedrooms, built around 1955. A fifth of White Oak's homes are older still, from before 1940. The borough's sale inspection looks hard at these four spots, so we look there first.
Four or more steps need a graspable handrail before White Oak will issue an occupancy certificate. If yours lack one, we add it, and rebuild worn or uneven treads at the same time.
Outlets within six feet of the sink must be GFCI-protected to pass the borough's inspection. When we remodel a kitchen, the new outlets, counters and lighting are laid out with that rule built in.
The checklist wants porches and decks in good repair, with the required guards and a protective finish on the wood. We replace soft boards and loose guards, then seal the new wood.
Walls this old are often plaster, and the inspection flags cracked or loose plaster. We cut back what has let go, patch or skim it, and leave walls ready for paint.
White Oak borough Census figures (ACS 2020–2024) and the borough's occupancy checklist. The plan shows a typical house, not one address. White Oak on Census Reporter (opens in a new tab)
What We Build Here
White Oak's median house dates to 1955, more than half the borough sits over old mine workings, and every sale brings an occupancy inspection. Each service below answers to at least one of those.
01Kitchen RemodelingPull up a 1950s kitchen floor and you may find two or three older floors under it. We strip down to the subfloor, level it, and build the new kitchen on a flat, solid base.View Service
02Bathroom RemodelingTight bathrooms often come with a six-room house. We measure every inch, move the vanity or the door if it buys space, then seal behind the tile and set it ourselves.View Service
03Attic FinishingAn attic used only for storage can become a bedroom or office if the stair and headroom work. We confirm both before quoting, then insulate under the roof, lay a floor and drywall it.View Service
04Basement FinishingA basement from the 1940s or 1950s often has a floor drain, old pipes overhead and painted block walls. We work around each one, insulate and frame the walls, then finish it into usable space.View Service
05Additions & ADUsWhen the lot leaves little room to build out, a dormer or second-story room may be the answer. We check the framing, draw it, get the zoning certificate and building permit, and build it.View Service
06Windows & Exterior DoorsThe borough's inspection wants every window to open and close without force, with screens. Painted-shut sashes in older homes fail that test, so we free or replace them and fit new screens.View Service
07Exterior Restoration & Structural RepairsThe checklist also wants a weathertight foundation and walls, and exterior wood without chipping paint. We replace rotted siding, trim and sills, flash the openings, and leave the wood primed and sealed.View Service
08Decks & Covered PatiosWhite Oak posts its own wood deck construction guide with the deck permit information. We build to it, from footings set below frost to a ledger bolted and flashed at the house.View ServiceAcross White Oak
White Oak runs from the McKeesport line east to the Westmoreland County border, with an 810-acre county park inside it. Five spots, with what a nearby remodel should plan for.
2280 Lincoln Way · borough building
The borough building at 2280 Lincoln Way holds code enforcement, which takes the occupancy applications, zoning certificates and building permits. We file ours there in person or by email, and keep the paperwork moving ahead of the work.
860 Maple · the first borough hall
When White Oak incorporated in 1948, its first borough building was the old Bowery School at 860 Maple Street. Homes from before 1940, a fifth of the borough's, usually mean plaster walls and settled floors, and we price for both.
169 Victoria Drive · the pool
The borough's own park on Victoria Drive has a pool open from late May to early September, a pickleball court, a zip line and a paved walking trail. Free wood chips from the borough's chipping program are picked up here too.
810 acres · Allegheny County
Allegheny County's White Oak Park covers 810 acres, with trails, a dog park, bocce and volleyball courts and a wedding garden. On lots near its edge, we check how the water runs off the woods before setting footings.
White Oak Farms · Riverview Drive
After slides in the heavy storms of summer 2013, the borough closed Center Street Extension where it meets Riverview Drive, by the White Oak Farms apartments. Core drilling predicted it would slide again, and in 2019 it was still shut.
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Who Does the Work
White Oak is on the Allegheny side of our map, and our crews drive in from the Trafford shop. The carpenters who walk your house and price the job build it, and they know what the borough's inspector checks.
The usual way
The AllTrades way
White Oak Through the Year
Older houses on hillside lots feel every season here, from the coldest nights to the wettest weekends. Three moments from the record, and how each one shapes the way we build.
Below-zero nights
~2Nights at 0°F or colder
An average winter brings about two nights at zero or colder, and in older houses the pipes on outside walls are the first to freeze. When we open a wall, we insulate behind the plumbing first.
When hillsides let go
March 2022Lincoln Way slide closes road
In March 2022 a landslide shut part of Lincoln Way, a state road, for PennDOT to clear. A soaked slope can let go, so on hillside lots we trace the uphill water before setting a footing.
The 2018 deluge
7+ inRain over one September 2018 weekend
Over one September weekend in 2018, more than 7 inches fell here, with flooding and sewage trouble across the borough. Basements we finish get a plan for that kind of rain: grading, gutters and a path for the water.
Below-zero nights: Pittsburgh International Airport, 1991–2020 normals (NOAA). Slide and storm: Mon Valley Independent, March 2022 and September 2018. Mon Valley Independent: the 2018 flooding (opens in a new tab)
Building in White Oak
A sale inspection, ground that was mined and a zoning certificate on every permit. None of the three is hard to handle when it is planned in from the first visit.
$75Single-family occupancy inspection
No house in White Oak can be sold, rented or moved into until the borough inspects it and issues an occupancy certificate, owner-occupied homes included. The $75 single-family fee covers one re-inspection, and an application lapses after 30 days, so we finish any repairs before you apply.
White Oak permits and occupancy forms (opens in a new tab)Over halfOf the borough, mined below
On the state's mine subsidence map, confirmed mining runs under more than half of White Oak, and a regular homeowner's policy will not pay for subsidence damage. Look up your address before adding on or finishing a basement; the state sells subsidence coverage as a separate policy.
Check your address on the state's mine subsidence map (opens in a new tab)$50Zoning certificate with each permit
Every building permit application in White Oak goes in with a zoning certificate application, $50, and the building permit fees follow the borough's code agency schedule. Even a residential roof replacement takes a $75 borough permit. We file it all as one package so nothing is missing.
White Oak 2023 fee schedule (opens in a new tab)Where Else We Build
North Huntingdon is just over the Westmoreland County line, and Irwin, Trafford and Monroeville are all within our usual range. One crew, from one shop, works all of them.
White Oak, Answered
What homeowners in White Oak most need to know before a remodel or a sale, in five short answers.
Ask a QuestionOutside: handrails on four or more steps, guards and a protective finish on porches and decks, weathertight walls and roof, and GFCI outdoor outlets. Inside: no cracked or loose plaster, GFCIs near water, smoke alarms in every bedroom and on each floor, and carbon monoxide alarms near fuel-burning appliances.
White Oak residential occupancy checklist (opens in a new tab)Thirty days. The borough's form says an application or inspection becomes void 30 days from its date, and no one may move in before the certificate is issued. Apply close to your closing, after repairs are done, so a re-inspection does not push you past the window.
White Oak permits and occupancy forms (opens in a new tab)To the code enforcement office in the borough building at 2280 Lincoln Way, which also answers questions by phone or email. We assemble the drawings and the forms, submit them for you, and stay your point of contact with the borough until the final inspection.
Fairly common. Of about 1,450 tests in the state registry from White Oak addresses, roughly 30% came back at or past the state's 4-picocurie action level. Test before a basement becomes living space, and have it mitigated first if the number comes back high.
PA DEP: Radon in the Home (opens in a new tab)No more than once a year. White Oak inspects a rental before a change of tenant, but a rental is not inspected more than once a year however many times tenants change. Each unit of a duplex is inspected and gets its own occupancy permit.
White Oak permits and occupancy forms (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.
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412-730-8805
hello@alltradeshq.com
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Closed Sat & Sun
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529 Forest Ave
Trafford, PA 15085
