Shiremanstown is small. You can walk across it before your coffee cools. The borough covers 0.31 square miles and counted 1,634 residents in the 2020 census, which works out to about 5,300 people per square mile.
Houses sit close together. Downspouts empty near a neighbor's foundation, and a failed pipe in one basement is often a problem in two. We come from Mechanicsburg, about 3 miles to the west. Below is what the housing, the ground and the nearby creeks mean for water damage here. If water is on the floor now, call (223) 245-0005 first and read later.
Water damage restoration, water extraction and basement cleanup in Shiremanstown, PA
Three out of four Shiremanstown homes predate 1970, and the plumbing in them shows it
Census survey estimates count 767 housing units in the borough. Of those, about 27 percent were built before 1940 and about 73 percent before 1970. The 1950s are the biggest single decade after the oldest group, at about 22 percent. Only about 8 percent date from 1980 or later. By comparison, about 63 percent of Mechanicsburg's housing predates 1970.
One hundred Shiremanstown houses, colored by the decade they were built
Pictogram of 100 houses representing Shiremanstown housing units by decade built. 27 of 100 before 1940, 9 in the 1940s, 22 in the 1950s, 15 in the 1960s, 19 in the 1970s, 8 in 1980 or later. 73 of every 100 were built before 1970.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2020-2024), table B25034, Shiremanstown borough. Small decades carry wide margins of error; the 1940s and 1980s counts are the least certain.
A house from the 1950s is now past seventy years old. Original supply lines, original water heaters, cast iron drains and old washing machine hookups are all in that range. When one fails, it fails inside a wall or under a floor that nobody has opened in decades. That is why so many calls here start as a damp spot and turn out to be a wet wall.
Under a Shiremanstown basement: clay that drains slowly, then limestone about six feet down
We sampled the USDA soil map at 25 evenly spaced points across the borough. Nineteen landed on Hagerstown silt loam, the limestone-derived soil common across the Cumberland Valley. Five landed on urban land, where the original soil has been disturbed. One landed on Melvin silt loam, a floodplain soil.
What is under a Shiremanstown basement, from lawn to limestone
Cross-section showing Hagerstown silt loam layers: topsoil to 10 inches, clay subsoil to 56 inches, weathered rock to 73 inches, then limestone bedrock at about 6 feet. A typical basement floor about 8 feet deep sits below that depth. Water seeps through clay, rests on the rock surface and enters at the wall base and slab.
Source: USDA NRCS Soil Data Access, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania soil survey, Hagerstown silt loam 3 to 8 percent slopes. Basement depth is a typical figure, not a measurement of any one house.
The Hagerstown profile has about 10 inches of topsoil, then clay subsoil that is 37 to 55 percent clay, then weathered rock, then limestone. The minimum depth to bedrock listed for the soil is 185 centimeters, about 6 feet. A basement floor typically sits 7 to 8 feet down. So a typical basement floor can sit at or just inside the rock, below a layer of clay that slows water down and lets it collect. Where the rock sits deeper than the minimum, the floor may stay in clay.
Heavy rain does not flood these basements from the street. It soaks through the clay, rests on the rock surface and pushes in at the base of the wall and along the slab. You will see damp block, a white mineral line on the wall or a wet floor at the edges. See basement flooding cleanup for how we handle it.
Water still spreading? Do not wait for it to stop on its own.
Call (223) 245-0005Water service in the borough: two names on the borough's own utilities list
The borough's website lists Pennsylvania American Water Co. and Lower Allen Township under water. Which one serves your address depends on the street, and your water bill names the right one. We could not verify a hardness figure for Shiremanstown tap water, so we do not quote one. Ask your utility for its annual water quality report if you want the number.
A borough named for a butcher, formed in 1874 from two townships
Shiremanstown takes its name from Daniel Shireman, who lived from 1753 to 1810 and was one of the early landowners where the town now stands. Wikipedia describes him as a German immigrant and a butcher by trade. The borough was incorporated in 1874 from parts of Lower Allen and Hampden townships, according to the Gardner Library, and celebrated its 150th anniversary in June 2024.
St. John's Lutheran Church stands on Main Street, and a 1927 church history dates its congregation to 1787. The borough council today includes a member responsible for the Main Street corridor, and the borough office is at One Park Lane.
Getting to Shiremanstown from Mechanicsburg
Shiremanstown lies about 3 miles east of the center of Mechanicsburg, measured in a straight line, and about 6 miles southwest of downtown Harrisburg. Hampden Township borders it to the north and Lower Allen Township to the south. Trindle Road (PA 641) and Carlisle Pike (US 11) are the two main east-west roads in the area, and both run toward Camp Hill. We give you a time on the phone, because traffic on those roads decides it.
No creek in town, two flood gauges within four miles
No stream runs through the borough. The nearest National Weather Service gauge on the Yellow Breeches Creek is about 3 miles east-southeast, near Camp Hill, and the one on the Conodoguinet Creek at Hogestown is about 4 miles northwest. Both are long records. The Yellow Breeches reached 18.77 feet in September 1975 against a 7-foot flood stage, and the Conodoguinet reached 17.01 feet in June 1972 against 8 feet.
On the soil map, only 1 of our 25 points was floodplain soil. That points toward groundwater, roof runoff and plumbing as the likelier causes here, rather than creek overflow. If a storm is the cause, our storm and flood damage page explains what that changes.
What a Shiremanstown job usually involves
- Wet block basements: pump, dry the framing, check the slab. See emergency water extraction and structural drying.
- Pipes in exterior walls and crawlspaces in January. See frozen and burst pipe cleanup.
- Old drain lines that back up. See sewage backup cleanup.
- Water heaters and washers past their years. See appliance leak water damage.
Neighboring towns we also serve: Camp Hill to the east and Carlisle to the west.
How much does water damage restoration cost in Shiremanstown, PA?
These are published U.S. ranges, not a Mechanicsburg Reco quote and not a Harrisburg-area price list. We quote after we see the job.
| Service | Typical estimate | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Water damage restoration | $3,250 (U.S. average) | $1,270 to $5,376 per job; about $3 to $7.50 per sq ft |
| Emergency water extraction | about $3,000 | $1,200 to $6,000 for pump-out, extraction and dehumidification |
| Basement flooding cleanup | about $2,000 for 400 sq ft of clean water | $4 to $12 per sq ft; $1,600 to $4,800+ for 400 sq ft |
| Frozen and burst pipe cleanup | about $3.50 per sq ft (clean water) | $3 to $4 per sq ft, plus the plumber's repair |
| Structural drying and dehumidification | about $300 per day of equipment | $200 to $400 per day, usually 2 to 5 days: $400 to $2,000 |
| Sewage backup cleanup | about $7.50 per sq ft (black water) | $7 to $14 per sq ft; $2,000 to $10,000 per job |
Sources: Angi, HomeAdvisor, HomeGuide and LawnStarter cost guides (2025-2026) and restoration company price guides. Estimates are published averages or the midpoint of a range.
What moves the price
- Water category. Clean, gray and black water are priced differently: Angi puts them at about $3 to $4, $4 to $6.50 and $7 to $7.50 per square foot.
- Area and depth. More square feet and deeper water mean more extraction and more drying.
- Time since the loss. Water that sits wets more material and can move up a category.
- Materials. Carpet, drywall, hardwood and plaster dry or fail differently. HomeAdvisor puts gray-water hardwood damage at about $10 to $15 per square foot.
- Finished or unfinished space. Finished basements cost more to clean and dry.
- Drying days. Equipment is billed per day, so dense materials cost more.
- Rebuilding. It is separate. Angi puts drywall replacement at about $1.50 to $3 per square foot.
- Block basements and old plumbing. seepage through clay can mean drying walls and slabs, not just carpet, and a split pipe in an exterior wall can wet two rooms.
Insurance may cover some or all of it. Your policy decides, and we provide the documentation.
Shiremanstown questions, answered by the numbers
Why does my Shiremanstown basement leak when it has not flooded in years?
Heavy rain can push water through clay to the rock surface and into the wall base, even in a year with no flooding. A damp patch that returns after storms usually points to groundwater, not a pipe.
Is Shiremanstown in a flood zone?
That depends on the address, and FEMA's maps decide it. On the soil map, only 1 of 25 sample points was floodplain soil. Standard homeowners policies generally exclude flood, so check your policy and the FEMA map for your street.
My house is from the 1950s. What fails first?
Usually water heaters, washing machine hoses and old drain lines. None of them fail on a schedule. If yours are original, look at them each spring and know where the shut-off valves are.
Which water company serves Shiremanstown?
The borough lists Pennsylvania American Water Co. and Lower Allen Township. Your water bill names the one that serves your street.
