Lincoln County, Tennessee · Fayetteville
Water spreading, a burst pipe, sewage, mold or smoke? Call to be connected with a restoration company that serves Fayetteville, Park City and Flintville. 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.
Lincoln County averages 9 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 23% of its homes predate 1960.
February brings the most downpours to Lincoln County, part of 16.7 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
23% 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 Lincoln County, 3.43 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
16% of occupied homes in Lincoln County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
With 73 muggy nights a year, mold in Lincoln County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 35,946 people live in Lincoln County, 570 square miles in southern Tennessee, in roughly 16,291 homes. Fayetteville is the county seat; Park City, Flintville and Petersburg are the next largest communities. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1985.
64/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Lincoln County ranks 11 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Lincoln County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Lincoln County is milder than most of Tennessee, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. It averaged 62 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 9 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 95 Tennessee counties that's 72nd.
The longest cold spell was straight 3 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2015. The coldest night reached about -3°F on January 17, 2024. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
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 4 and the last spring freeze around Mar 31.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Tennessee. The county gets about 63.9 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 16.7 days of an inch or more (5th of 95). Those downpours cluster in February, March and December, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.43 inches on December 26, 2015. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.3 inches (through February 24, 2019).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 59 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 Lincoln near the middle of Tennessee's 95 counties.
23% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
29% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 13% 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 73 times a year here, close to the Tennessee county median of 74. Mold grows when indoor humidity stays above about 60%, the EPA's ceiling. A basement dehumidifier set to 50% and drying anything wet within 24 to 48 hours prevents most problems.
Mold remediation: what to expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Lincoln County it's 24% utility gas, 59% electric, 14% propane and 2% wood. Propane heat is above the Tennessee 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 Lincoln County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Bedford, Giles, Marshall and Moore get more pipe-freeze nights than Lincoln. Giles County has the oldest housing nearby, with 48% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Lincoln | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 23% | 16% | 12 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 44% | 41% | 36 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 27% | 27% | 46 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 13% | 16% | 52 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 8.9% | 12% | 71 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 16% | 7.8% | 17 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 9/yr | 11/yr | 72 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 17/yr | 14/yr | 5 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 59/yr | 60/yr | 58 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 73/yr | 74/yr | 49 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 Lincoln County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in February, March 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