Gillespie County, Texas · Fredericksburg
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With 16% of homes built before 1960 and about 2 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
May brings the most downpours to Gillespie County, part of 6.1 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
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.
Gillespie County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 3.15 inches, and about 27 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
14% of occupied homes in Gillespie County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Texas county median of 6.5%.
Muggy summer nights, lows of 65°F or more, come about 126 times a year in Gillespie County. Mold after a leak spreads fastest from June through August.
Local risk profile
About 27,524 people live in Gillespie County, 1,058 square miles in central Texas, in roughly 14,373 homes. The county seat is Fredericksburg, and Harper and Stonewall round out the largest towns. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1991.
39/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Gillespie County ranks 198 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Gillespie County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Gillespie County sits near the middle of the state. From 2015–2024 it averaged 2 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 29 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 126th of 232 counties.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 6 days below freezing (ending February 2021), and the low bottomed out near 5°F on February 16, 2021.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs midwinter. That's when an outdoor spigot left connected to a hose, or a pipe in a crawl space, is most likely to split.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 22 and end around Feb 26.
Rainfall is about average for Texas. About 6.1 days a year bring an inch or more (146th of 232), most often in May, out of 27.4 inches of total precipitation. On October 24, 2015, 3.15 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.76 inches, ending October 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 27 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 34% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Gillespie among the newer housing stocks of Texas's 232 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 37% 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.
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.
15% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, close to the Texas county median of 13.4%. 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.
The Census counted 20% of homes as vacant, above the Texas county median of 16.6%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
Gillespie County averages 126 warm, muggy nights a year (lows of 65°F or more) and gets the most rain in May. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, Gillespie County homes break down as 18% utility gas, 66% electric, 11% propane and 3% wood. Wood and propane heat are 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 Gillespie County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Kimble and Mason get more pipe-freeze nights than Gillespie. Mason County has the oldest housing nearby, with 54% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Gillespie | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 16% | 20% | 141 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 34% | 46% | 176 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 37% | 26% | 46 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 15% | 13% | 99 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 20% | 17% | 78 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 14% | 6.5% | 35 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 2/yr | 3/yr | 126 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 6.1/yr | 7.8/yr | 146 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 27/yr | 27/yr | 112 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 126/yr | 129/yr | 129 of 232 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Texas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Gillespie County: freezing from midwinter, heavy rain in May, September and October.
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