Union County, Tennessee · Maynardville
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Union County averages 13 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 14% of its homes predate 1960.
February brings the most downpours to Union County, part of 10.8 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
14% 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 Union County, 3.75 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
10% of occupied homes in Union County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Tennessee county median of 7.8%.
With 55 muggy nights a year, mold in Union County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 9,831 homes and around 20,431 residents, Union County is 224 square miles of northeast Tennessee. The county seat is Maynardville, and Plainview and Luttrell round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1993.
37/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Union County ranks 82 of 95 Tennessee counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Union County ranks highest compared with other Tennessee counties.
Union is on the colder side of Tennessee for pipes. It averaged 76 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 13 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 18th.
On February 20, 2015 the low fell to about -3°F, and in the stretch ending February 2015 the county went 6 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
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 1 and the last spring freeze around Apr 8.
Union gets fewer downpours than most Tennessee counties, but they still fill basements. The county gets about 54.7 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 10.8 days of an inch or more (84th of 95). Those downpours cluster in January, February and March, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 3.75 inches on October 29, 2020. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 5.4 inches (through February 7, 2020).
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 71 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 32% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Union among the newer housing stocks of Tennessee's 95 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 36% of today's homes. In houses that new, the weak points are washing machine hoses, ice maker lines, water heaters and sump pumps rather than the pipes in the walls.
32% 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 22% 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.
19% of homes were vacant at survey time. A leak in an empty rental or seasonal house can run for days before anyone notices, which is why those losses tend to be larger.
Beyond water
Union County averages 55 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in February. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Union County it's 2% utility gas, 88% electric, 5% propane and 5% wood. Wood heat is more common here than the state median. Have chimneys swept and fuel-burning appliances serviced each fall, and keep three feet clear around stoves and space heaters.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Union County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Campbell and Claiborne get more pipe-freeze nights than Union. Anderson County has the oldest housing nearby, with 54% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Union | Tennessee median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 16% | 66 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 32% | 41% | 79 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 36% | 27% | 16 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 22% | 16% | 22 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 19% | 12% | 10 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.8% | 7.8% | 41 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 13/yr | 11/yr | 18 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 14/yr | 84 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 71/yr | 60/yr | 10 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 55/yr | 74/yr | 81 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 Union 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