Coles County, Illinois · Charleston
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Charleston, Mattoon and Oakland. Start the steps below while you wait.
Answered 24/7 by a participating local provider. We're a referral service and don't do the work ourselves. How it works
Start here
Pick the closest match. These steps limit the damage and protect your insurance claim. Skip anything that isn't safe.
Pipes freeze in Coles County on about 30 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 40% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in June. Coles County averages 8.3 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Coles County spike on heavy-rain days, about 8.3 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 82 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
6% of occupied homes in Coles County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Illinois county median of 16.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 51 times a year in Coles County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 46,777 people live in Coles County, 508 square miles in eastern Illinois, in roughly 22,681 homes. The county seat is Charleston, and Mattoon, Oakland and Ashmore round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1971, half after.
46/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Coles County ranks 71 of 102 Illinois counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Coles County ranks highest compared with other Illinois counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Coles County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 103 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 30 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 102 Illinois counties that's 64th.
On February 24, 2015 the low fell to about -11°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 14 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs November to March, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 25 and end around Apr 15.
Rainfall is about average for Illinois. About 8.3 days a year bring an inch or more (56th of 102), most often in June, out of 42.6 inches of total precipitation. On June 11, 2018, 3.78 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.89 inches, ending June 12, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 82 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
65% of homes in Coles County predate 1980, close to the Illinois county median of 65.9%, which ranks 55th of Illinois's 102 counties.
The mix runs from 40% built before 1960 to 13% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 22% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Renters occupy 40% of homes. If you rent, the building is usually the landlord's to repair, but your belongings are only covered by renters insurance.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 51 times a year here, close to the Illinois county median of 51. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Coles County's occupied homes: 51% utility gas, 41% electric, 6% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Coles County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Douglas, Edgar, Moultrie and Shelby get more pipe-freeze nights than Coles. Edgar County has the oldest housing nearby, with 76% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Coles | Illinois median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 40% | 38% | 49 of 102 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 65% | 66% | 55 of 102 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 13% | 15% | 63 of 102 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3.9% | 5.6% | 62 of 102 |
| Vacant homes | 8.2% | 11% | 76 of 102 |
| Wood or propane heat | 6.2% | 17% | 83 of 102 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 30/yr | 35/yr | 64 of 102 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.3/yr | 8.4/yr | 56 of 102 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 82/yr | 81/yr | 40 of 102 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 51/yr | 51/yr | 48 of 102 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Illinois county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Coles County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in March, June and July.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology