Radon Mitigation in West Manchester Township, PA

West of York, Along Route 30

West Manchester Township covers the west side of York, surrounding West York borough, with US Route 30 and PA Route 74 crossing it. The township is part of the West York Area School District. Much of its housing went up in the decades after World War II, with ranches, Cape Cods, and two-stories on block foundations, and newer homes and subdivisions filling in since.

For radon, that postwar block construction is the story.

The Trouble With Hollow Block

A lot of basements built in the 1940s through the 1970s have walls of hollow concrete block. Each block has open cores inside, and when the blocks are stacked, those cores line up into vertical channels running the full height of the wall.

That matters because:

• Soil gas can get into the cores through the outside of the wall below grade.
• It can travel up inside the wall and out through cracks, mortar joints, or an open top course where the wall meets the house framing.
• The joint where the slab meets the block wall is another easy path in.

On many block basements, a suction point under the slab pulls hard enough that the block walls get depressurized too, and the radon problem in the walls takes care of itself. On others, the top of the wall is open or the walls are cracked enough that we need to seal the top course or add suction that reaches the walls. We check before we decide.

Remodeling the Basement

Postwar ranches are prime candidates for a basement remodel, turning a block-walled storage area into a family room, a bar, a home office, or a guest room. That’s a great time to deal with radon, for two reasons:

1. The number matters more. You’ll be spending real time down there.
2. The install is easier. With the block walls and slab exposed, we can seal the top course, place the suction point, and route the pipe before drywall and flooring go in.

Test before the framing starts. If the result is 4.0 pCi/L or higher, get the system in first, then finish around it, leaving access to the gauge.

Garages, Additions, and Newer Homes

Many homes here also have an attached garage on a slab or a family room added later, each a separate foundation area to check. Newer homes in the township usually have poured basements and sumps, and the sump lid gets sealed as part of the system.

Next Steps in West Manchester

Start with radon testing if you haven’t tested. For a high result, we’ll quote a radon mitigation system after seeing the block, the slab, and every addition. If you already have a system and the fan quit or got noisy, radon fan replacement gets it back to work. West Manchester Township is part of our radon mitigation service across York County, with free same-day estimates Monday through Saturday.