Larue County, Kentucky · Hodgenville
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With 21% of homes built before 1960 and about 21 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 13.3 times a year here, most often in February. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
21% of homes here predate 1960, when clay and cast iron sewer laterals were standard. Roots and cracks in those lines are a common cause of backups.
In Larue County, 3.72 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
11% of occupied homes in Larue County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Kentucky county median of 12.6%.
About 60 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
With 6,573 homes and around 15,107 residents, Larue County is 261 square miles of central Kentucky. Besides Hodgenville, the county seat, the biggest communities are Buffalo and Magnolia. The county's median home was built in 1983.
65/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Larue County ranks 7 of 120 Kentucky counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Larue County ranks highest compared with other Kentucky counties.
Larue is on the colder side of Kentucky for pipes. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 21 nights a year at or below 20°F (35th of 120) and 82 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 20, 2015 the low fell to about -10°F, and in the stretch ending February 2021 the county went 9 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
The freeze season here runs December to February, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 31 and the last spring freeze around Apr 11.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Kentucky. About 13.3 days a year bring an inch or more (31st of 120), most often in February, out of 54.8 inches of total precipitation. On September 2, 2017, 3.72 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.35 inches (through September 3, 2017).
About 73 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
Roughly 46% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Larue near the middle of Kentucky's 120 counties.
Older and newer homes sit side by side here: 21% predate 1960 and 24% are from 2000 or later. Corroded pipe is the typical failure in the first group, burst supply hoses in the second.
About 30% of homes went up between 1980 and 1999. Some houses from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s were plumbed with polybutylene, a gray plastic pipe known for failing at fittings. A plumber can tell you in a few minutes whether you have it.
Here 14% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 60 times a year here, close to the Kentucky county median of 59. The EPA recommends keeping indoor humidity below 60%, ideally 30 to 50%. Basements can pass 60% on their own in summer, so a dehumidifier matters even without a leak, and anything wet should be dried within 24 to 48 hours.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Larue County homes break down as 16% utility gas, 71% electric, 10% propane and 2% wood. Fires here are likelier to start in the kitchen or the wiring than in the furnace. After any fire, keep the HVAC off until ducts are checked, or soot will travel through the house.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Larue County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Larue gets more pipe-freeze nights than any of its neighbors. Green County has the oldest housing nearby, with 56% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Larue | Kentucky median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 18% | 46 of 120 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 46% | 44% | 45 of 120 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 24% | 25% | 69 of 120 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 14% | 19% | 78 of 120 |
| Vacant homes | 8.8% | 13% | 92 of 120 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 13% | 74 of 120 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 21/yr | 20/yr | 35 of 120 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 12/yr | 31 of 120 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 73/yr | 73/yr | 55 of 120 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 60/yr | 59/yr | 51 of 120 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Kentucky county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Larue County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, 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