Pike County, Ohio · Waverly
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Waverly, Piketon and Beaver. 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.
Pike County averages 25 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly November to March, and 29% of its homes predate 1960.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 8.5 times a year here, most often in February. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Pike County gets about 8.5 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.
25% of occupied homes in Pike County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Ohio county median of 15.9%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 41 times a year in Pike County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 27,044 people live in Pike County, 440 square miles in southern Ohio, in roughly 12,107 homes. The county seat is Waverly, and Piketon, Beaver and Cynthiana round out the largest towns. The county's median home was built in 1980.
44/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Pike County ranks 59 of 88 Ohio counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Pike County ranks highest compared with other Ohio counties.
Pike County is milder than most of Ohio, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 25 nights a year at or below 20°F (80th of 88) and 96 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On February 21, 2015 the low fell to about -12°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 13 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs November to March. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 28 and the last spring freeze around Apr 19.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Ohio. The county gets about 47.1 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 8.5 days of an inch or more (5th of 88). Those downpours cluster in February, April and September, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.64 inches on September 28, 2024. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.54 inches (through September 10, 2018).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 80 times a year here. They're the main driver of ice dams and of water working its way through foundation cracks in late winter.
Housing
Ohio's 88 counties range widely in housing age; Pike ranks 74th, with 51% of its homes built before 1980.
The mix runs from 29% built before 1960 to 19% 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 31% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 19% 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
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 41 times a year here, above the Ohio county median of 35. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Pike County's occupied homes: 24% utility gas, 49% electric, 20% propane and 4% wood. Wood and propane heat are above the Ohio norm. Annual chimney and vent inspection, which the NFPA recommends, is one of the most effective fire-prevention habits for these homes.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Pike County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Adams, Highland, Jackson and Ross get more pipe-freeze nights than Pike. Scioto County has the oldest housing nearby, with 66% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Pike | Ohio median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 29% | 37% | 69 of 88 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 51% | 61% | 74 of 88 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 19% | 17% | 30 of 88 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 19% | 5.9% | 5 of 88 |
| Vacant homes | 10% | 8.4% | 27 of 88 |
| Wood or propane heat | 25% | 16% | 15 of 88 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 25/yr | 31/yr | 80 of 88 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 8.5/yr | 5.7/yr | 5 of 88 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 80/yr | 82/yr | 55 of 88 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 41/yr | 35/yr | 19 of 88 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Ohio county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Pike County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in February, April and September.
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