Questions row-house owners ask

The common test is seven feet of clear height over about half the floor, with nothing under five feet counted as room. Stand at the tallest point and measure from the floor boards to the underside of the roof boards. The rule your block follows is the city's, so we confirm it on the visit.

Yes, for a bedroom in an attic, a new stair, a dormer, a pop-up or any new plumbing. We draw it and file it with the city. Zoning is a separate question, and it comes up when the roofline changes or a second kitchen would make the house two units.

Row houses share party walls. Work that touches one can need a conversation with your neighbor and sometimes an engineer's letter. We look at the wall on the visit and tell you which kind of job yours is.

Not if cooling is designed in. A room under a roof needs insulation in the roof line and a way to cool it, and we usually use a ductless mini-split sized to the room. We say so in the scope instead of leaving it for you to find out.

Yes. Federal rules cover paid work that disturbs painted surfaces in homes built before 1978, and most Philadelphia row houses qualify. Replacing windows and any demolition are always covered, and so is cutting into painted plaster. Small repairs of less than 6 square feet inside or 20 square feet outside are exempt. We follow lead-safe work practices on every older house: plastic containment, no dry sanding, a HEPA vacuum and a cleaning check at the end of each day. We'll tell you at the visit which parts of your job fall under the rule.

It depends on the height, the stair, the floor, the bath and the heat. The pricing page lists what moves the number, what a written scope includes and when you get it.

No. A bedroom needs a permit, and an unpermitted one can cost you when you sell or insure the house.

Old houses hide things. The contract lists what happens if we find them, and nothing is done until you agree in writing.

We use licensed specialists for plumbing, electrical and heating, and tell you who they are at the scope.

New houses, roof-only jobs and condominium buildings. We also won't draw a bedroom into a space the rules don't allow.

A workmanship warranty is in every contract, with what it covers, for how long and what it doesn't. See the credentials page.

Yes. See how it works for what happens the first week.