Franklin County, Missouri · Union
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Washington, Union and Pacific. 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.
Franklin County averages 28 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to February, and 21% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 10.1 times a year here, most often in April. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Franklin County gets about 10.1 days a year, when storm water overloads sewer mains and pushes up through the lowest drain in the house.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 80 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
15% of occupied homes in Franklin County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Missouri county median of 24.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 57 times a year in Franklin County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 46,312 homes and around 105,950 residents, Franklin County is 923 square miles of eastern Missouri. Besides Union, the county seat, the biggest communities are Washington, Pacific and Sullivan. The county's median home was built in 1984.
42/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Franklin County ranks 83 of 114 Missouri counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Franklin County ranks highest compared with other Missouri counties.
For frozen pipes, Franklin County is a typical Missouri county, which is still plenty. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 28 nights a year at or below 20°F (54th of 114) and 96 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On January 15, 2024 the low fell to about -8°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.
Most freezing nights fall from November to February, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 24 and the last spring freeze around Apr 12.
Rainfall is about average for Missouri. About 10.1 days a year bring an inch or more (60th of 114), most often in April, out of 44 inches of total precipitation. On December 27, 2015, 4.53 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 8.13 inches (through December 29, 2015).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 80 days a year. Each cycle melts and refreezes water at roof edges and in foundation cracks, which is how ice dams and basement seepage get started.
Housing
Roughly 44% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Franklin among the newer housing stocks of Missouri's 114 counties.
Since 2000 the county has added enough housing that 27% of homes are that new. Modern PEX and copper rarely fail on their own; the leaks come from connections, appliances and storms.
About 29% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 9% of the housing here. Water lines in the underbelly depend on intact skirting and working heat tape, and they're usually the first to freeze in a cold snap.
Beyond water
About 57 nights a year in Franklin County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (82nd of 114 counties). July is the wettest month. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectMain heating fuel in Franklin County's occupied homes: 15% utility gas, 68% electric, 11% propane and 4% 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 Franklin County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Crawford, Warren and Washington get more pipe-freeze nights than Franklin. St. Louis County has the oldest housing nearby, with 69% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Franklin | Missouri median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 21% | 25% | 75 of 114 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 44% | 53% | 89 of 114 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 27% | 21% | 23 of 114 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 9% | 9.8% | 68 of 114 |
| Vacant homes | 7.1% | 15% | 105 of 114 |
| Wood or propane heat | 15% | 25% | 89 of 114 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 28/yr | 28/yr | 54 of 114 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 10/yr | 10/yr | 60 of 114 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 80/yr | 77/yr | 40 of 114 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 57/yr | 65/yr | 82 of 114 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Missouri county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Franklin County: freezing from November to February, heavy rain in April, July and August.
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