Chesterfield County, South Carolina · Chesterfield
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Cheraw, Pageland and Chesterfield. 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 Chesterfield County on about 3 nights a year, mostly January. Older homes, 16% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in December. Chesterfield County averages 11.1 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
16% 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.
Chesterfield County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 7.43 inches, and about 43 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
8% of occupied homes in Chesterfield County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the South Carolina county median of 5.1%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 105 times a year in Chesterfield County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
With 20,843 homes and around 43,784 residents, Chesterfield County is 799 square miles of northeast South Carolina. Chesterfield is the county seat; Cheraw, Pageland and McBee are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1986.
52/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Chesterfield County ranks 24 of 46 South Carolina counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Chesterfield County ranks highest compared with other South Carolina counties.
Chesterfield County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of South Carolina. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 3 nights a year at or below 20°F (7th of 46) and 43 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The freeze season here runs January, 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 Nov 15 and end around Mar 21.
Chesterfield gets fewer downpours than most South Carolina counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 50.1 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 11.1 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 32nd of 46. July, September and December see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 7.43 inches, September 16, 2018. The worst three-day stretch dropped 14.13 inches, ending September 17, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 43 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
Roughly 41% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Chesterfield near the middle of South Carolina's 46 counties.
The mix runs from 16% built before 1960 to 22% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 37% 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.
38% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the South Carolina county median of 22%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 105 times a year here, close to the South Carolina county median of 113.5. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Chesterfield County homes break down as 8% utility gas, 81% electric, 7% propane and 1% 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 Chesterfield County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Lancaster gets more pipe-freeze nights than Chesterfield. Marlboro County has the oldest housing nearby, with 56% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Chesterfield | South Carolina median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 15% | 18 of 46 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 41% | 40% | 21 of 46 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 22% | 25% | 33 of 46 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 38% | 22% | 2 of 46 |
| Vacant homes | 16% | 16% | 22 of 46 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.5% | 5.1% | 19 of 46 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 3/yr | 2/yr | 7 of 46 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 12/yr | 32 of 46 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 43/yr | 35/yr | 13 of 46 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 105/yr | 114/yr | 31 of 46 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest South Carolina county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Chesterfield County: freezing from January, heavy rain in July, September and December.
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