Every Question, Answered Straight

Top Dog Exteriors is a veteran-owned, family-operated exterior contracting company based at 4607 Library Rd, Bethel Park, PA 15102, serving the Greater Pittsburgh area. We handle roofing, decks, siding, windows, doors, gutters, concrete, additions, excavation and painting. Many of our crews specialise in one specific type of this work, and some carry more than one speciality. We are an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor, hold an A rating with the BBB, and are registered in Pennsylvania as contractor PA193451.

Anywhere within about an hour of Pittsburgh. We are based in the South Hills and work across Allegheny, Washington and Butler counties: Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, Upper St. Clair, Peters Township, McMurray, Canonsburg, South Park, Washington, Whitehall, Castle Shannon, Dormont, Baldwin, Brentwood, Pleasant Hills, Jefferson Hills, Bridgeville, Carnegie, the City of Pittsburgh, the North Hills, Gibsonia, Cranberry Township, Fox Chapel, Sewickley, Robinson Township, Moon Township, Monroeville and surrounding communities.

Yes, and there is no obligation. We also send you the inspection photographs whether you hire us or not. For roofing, our instant roof quote tool gives you a real price range online in about 60 seconds before anyone comes to the house.

Estimates typically come back within 24 hours. Scheduling depends on the trade and the season — roofing and gutters move fastest, decks and additions book further out, and storm damage gets triaged the same day. We give you a real date rather than a season.

Yes. Registered with the Pennsylvania Attorney General as contractor PA193451, with general liability and workers' compensation carried on every job. Certificates are furnished on request — and you should ask every contractor you consider for theirs.

No. We do not ask for half the job in cash before work begins. A contractor who needs your money to buy the materials for your job is telling you something important about their cash position, and Pennsylvania caps home improvement deposits for good reason.

Yes. We document storm damage with dated photographs, meet your adjuster on site, and provide a line-item scope that speaks the same language as the insurance estimate. We will not waive or absorb your deductible — that is illegal in Pennsylvania and any contractor offering it is showing you how they do business.

Cash, check, credit card, and financing through Acorn Finance, a lending marketplace that returns offers from multiple lenders. Pre-qualifying uses a soft credit check that does not affect your score. Subject to credit approval; we are not a lender and make no credit decisions.

Always 5% off for active duty, veterans, police, firefighters, EMS, teachers and seniors 65+, which stacks with the current seasonal offer for your service. We also take 10% off when you bundle two or more services on one project.

Sometimes you should not — if the cheaper quote is from a licensed, insured contractor writing the same scope, take it. What we would ask you to compare is the scope itself: is tear-off included, what underlayment, how much ice-and-water, is the ventilation being corrected, who pulls the permit, and what is the workmanship warranty. Our proposals are line-itemed specifically so you can run that comparison honestly.

Composite decks in the Greater Pittsburgh area generally run $45–$85 per square foot installed, depending on the board line, height off grade, stair count and railing system. A typical 16×20 Trex Enhance deck lands in the low-to-mid $20,000s; the same footprint in TimberTech Advanced PVC with lighting runs meaningfully higher. We price every option side by side.

Because the framing is the deck. Amish builders come up through a trade apprenticeship measured in years, not weeks, and the standard they hold for square framing, tight miters and consistent fastener lines is simply higher than what a rotating labor pool produces. It costs us more. It shows in the finished deck.

If maximum warranty and heat performance matter most, TimberTech Advanced PVC wins: lifetime limited product coverage and 50-year fade and stain. If you want a matched board-and-railing system with the deepest tropical grain, Trex Transcend at 50 years is hard to beat. If the budget is the driver, Trex Enhance and TimberTech Edge deliver a genuine 25-year capped board. We stock samples of all of them.

All decking gets hot in full sun; lighter colors run cooler than dark ones regardless of brand. TimberTech Advanced PVC runs measurably cooler than capped wood-composite because there is no wood flour in the board to hold heat. If your deck faces south with no shade, we will steer you toward a lighter PVC board.

In virtually every municipality we serve — yes. We pull it. Deck permits in Allegheny and Washington County typically require a site plan, footing detail and framing plan, and the inspector will want to see footings before they are covered. Building without one becomes a very expensive problem when you sell the house.

Sometimes. If the framing is pressure-treated, properly flashed and structurally sound, re-decking over existing joists is a legitimate way to save money. But composite boards require tighter joist spacing than old decks were often built to, so we inspect the frame first and tell you honestly whether it will carry the new material.

Installed Alside Mezzo windows typically run $650–$1,100 per opening depending on size, style and glass package; Vero runs higher. Whole-home projects of 10–15 windows commonly land between $8,000 and $16,000. Bays, bows and custom geometrics are priced individually.

It means the manufacturer has trained and tested our crews on their specific installation method and signed off on it. It matters because nearly every denied window warranty claim traces back to installation — improper shimming, missing flashing, over-driven fasteners, or foam that bows the frame. Certification is the manufacturer agreeing that we know how not to do that.

Mezzo is the value-forward choice: narrowline frames, more daylight opening, excellent energy numbers, lifetime limited warranty. Vero is the premium line — heavier extrusion, upgraded hardware, and far more color options including dark exteriors. Many homeowners run Vero on the front elevation and Mezzo everywhere else, which we are happy to quote.

Most homes are a single day for 10–15 openings. The long pole is manufacturing, typically 3–5 weeks from the day we measure, because every unit is built to your specific opening.

They help, but be skeptical of anyone promising a specific percentage. In most Pittsburgh homes, replacing single-pane or failed double-pane units produces a noticeable comfort change first — no more cold draft along the wall — and a modest utility reduction second. If someone quotes you a guaranteed 40% savings, ask them to put it in the contract.

Six-inch gutters carry roughly 40% more water and pair with larger 3×4 downspouts. If your roof is large or steep, your runs are long, you have a metal roof, or your current gutters overflow in heavy rain, 6-inch is the fix. For a typical roof, 5-inch is properly sized and costs less. We calculate the drainage area rather than guessing.

The gutter is extruded from a coil of aluminum on a roll-forming machine on your driveway, in one continuous piece the full length of the run. Sectional gutter comes in ten-foot lengths joined by sealed connectors — and every one of those joints eventually leaks. The only seams in a seamless system are at inside and outside corners.

Seamless 5-inch aluminum generally runs $8–$14 per linear foot installed; 6-inch runs $12–$20. A typical Pittsburgh home with 150–200 feet of gutter and downspouts lands in the $1,500–$3,500 range. Guards, fascia replacement and underground drainage are priced separately.

Under a mature tree canopy — which describes most of Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair — yes. Quality micro-mesh keeps out everything down to shingle grit while passing water at full flow. Cheap plastic screens are worse than nothing because they trap debris on top and hide the clog.

Yes, and this is the right time to do it. The gutter has to come off anyway, and hidden hangers need solid wood to bite into. We replace rotted fascia board and wrap it in matching aluminum so it never rots again.

Most residential concrete driveways run $14–$28 per square foot installed, depending on tear-out of the existing surface, excavation depth, reinforcement and finish. A typical two-car driveway lands between $12,000 and $20,000. Stamped and decorative finishes carry a premium.

Concrete cracking cannot be fully guaranteed against happening. Concrete is a natural product and may develop minor shrinkage cracks, surface blemishes, or slight color variations during curing. Control joints help minimize random cracking but cannot guarantee all cracking will occur within the joints. Our 5-year workmanship warranty covers our installation — the base preparation, the placement, the reinforcement and the jointing.

Three reasons, in order: an inadequate or uncompacted sub-base, control joints cut too late or spaced too far apart, and the wrong mix for a freeze-thaw climate. Those three are installation decisions, not bad luck, and we address each one deliberately — which is exactly why we own our own excavation equipment. Beyond them, concrete is a natural product that shrinks as it cures, and Pittsburgh puts it through freeze-thaw cycling and road salt every winter. No contractor can guarantee a slab will never crack here. Good work makes cracking less likely and steers it into the control joints; it cannot eliminate it.

Foot traffic after 24–48 hours, passenger vehicles after 7 days, and heavy vehicles or trailers after 28 days when the concrete has reached full design strength. Parking a loaded truck on a 5-day-old slab is one of the most common ways homeowners crack their own driveway.

In Western Pennsylvania, yes. Freeze-thaw cycling and road salt are the two things that shorten concrete life here, and a penetrating sealer meaningfully slows both. Plan on resealing every 2–3 years.

Yes, and it usually saves money. The excavator is already on site, the grade is already open, and sequencing footings, drainage and flatwork on one mobilization avoids paying twice for the same setup.

Most homes run $4,000–$12,000 depending on square footage, number of stories, siding condition and how much prep and carpentry repair is required. Prep is the variable — a house with widespread peeling and rotted trim costs substantially more than one that is simply faded.

Honest answer: if your wood or fiber cement siding is structurally sound, paint is far cheaper and buys 7–10 years. If it is rotting, cracking, or you are already on your third repaint, replacement usually costs less per year of service — and modern composite and factory-finished products never need painting at all. We will price both.

Late spring through early fall, when overnight temperatures stay reliably above 50°F and humidity is moderate. We do not paint into a cold snap or ahead of rain just to keep a schedule — the coating will not cure properly and you will see it within two years.