Grainger County, Tennessee · Rutledge
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Grainger County averages 13 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 14% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in February. Grainger County averages 10.2 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Backups often follow heavy rain, which Grainger County gets about 10.2 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 70 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
15% of occupied homes in Grainger County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
About 58 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
Grainger County covers 281 square miles of northeast Tennessee, with about 24,266 residents and 11,835 homes. Rutledge is the county seat; Blaine and Bean Station are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1992.
37/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Grainger County ranks 78 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Grainger County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Grainger is on the colder side of Tennessee for pipes. From 2015–2024 it averaged 13 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 75 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 18th of 95 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 6 days below freezing (ending February 2015), and the low bottomed out near -4°F on February 20, 2015.
Most freezing nights fall from December 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 Nov 2 and the last spring freeze around Apr 9.
Grainger gets fewer downpours than most Tennessee counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 51.7 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 10.2 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 85th of 95. January, February and March see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 3.53 inches, August 18, 2021. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.22 inches (through September 27, 2024).
About 70 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
31% of homes in Grainger County predate 1980, below the Tennessee county median of 41.2%, which ranks 80th of Tennessee's 95 counties.
Housing age is mixed: 14% of homes are pre-1960 and 31% are 2000 or newer. Ask any plumber which era your house is from and you'll know which failures to watch for.
39% date from 1980 to 1999, the window when polybutylene, a gray flexible plastic supply pipe, was used in some homes. It's prone to leaks at the fittings, so it's worth checking for in a house from those years.
30% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Tennessee county median of 15.9%. 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.
With 18% of homes empty at survey time, landlords and seasonal owners should shut off the main or schedule checks in winter. An unheated vacant house is also where many policies limit freeze coverage.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 58 times a year here, below the Tennessee county median of 74. 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 Grainger County's occupied homes: 2% utility gas, 83% electric, 9% propane and 6% wood. Wood and propane heat are more common here than in most Tennessee counties. Heating equipment is one of the leading causes of home fires nationally, and the NFPA recommends having chimneys and vents inspected every year.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Grainger County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Claiborne and Hancock get more pipe-freeze nights than Grainger. Hamblen County has the oldest housing nearby, with 51% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Grainger | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 16% | 66 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 31% | 41% | 80 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 31% | 27% | 32 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 30% | 16% | 3 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 18% | 12% | 12 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 15% | 7.8% | 21 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 13/yr | 11/yr | 18 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 10/yr | 14/yr | 85 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 70/yr | 60/yr | 11 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 58/yr | 74/yr | 76 of 95 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Tennessee county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Grainger County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in January, February and March.
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