Henry County, Virginia · Martinsville
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With 25% of homes built before 1960 and about 11 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
Basements flood here mostly in September. Henry County averages 13 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Henry County spike on heavy-rain days, about 13 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Henry County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 4.32 inches, and about 74 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
8% of occupied homes in Henry County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Virginia county median of 11.9%.
With 64 muggy nights a year, mold in Henry County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
About 49,980 people live in Henry County, 382 square miles in southern Virginia, in roughly 25,404 homes. The county seat is Martinsville, and Collinsville, Horse Pasture and Chatmoss round out the largest towns. Half the homes here were built before 1974, half after.
63/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Henry County ranks 11 of 95 Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Henry County ranks highest compared with other Virginia counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Henry County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 77 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 11 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 95 Virginia counties that's 63rd.
On February 20, 2015 the low fell to about 0°F, and in the stretch ending January 2018 the county went 8 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Expect the hardest freezes in January, inside a season that runs December to February. 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 4 and end around Apr 9.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of Virginia. The county gets about 52.3 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 13 days of an inch or more (2nd of 95). Those downpours cluster in May, September and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 4.32 inches on October 12, 2018. The worst three-day stretch dropped 6.69 inches, ending May 22, 2020, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 74 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
Virginia's 95 counties range widely in housing age; Henry ranks 2nd, with 63% of its homes built before 1980.
Before 1960 is when 25% of these homes went up. Galvanized supply lines and cast iron drains were standard then, and after 60-plus years both corrode and crack, often out of sight inside a wall or under a slab.
About 28% 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.
Manufactured and mobile homes make up 16% 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.
With 17% 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 64 times a year here, close to the Virginia county median of 64. 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 expectMain heating fuel in Henry County's occupied homes: 4% utility gas, 80% electric, 5% propane and 3% wood. Heating equipment, cooking and electrical failures cause most home fires nationally. Even a small kitchen fire can leave soot through the whole house, because smoke follows air currents into closets, ducts and attic space.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Henry County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Every neighboring county gets more pipe-freeze nights than Henry. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Henry | Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 25% | 20% | 29 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 63% | 46% | 2 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.6% | 25% | 95 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 16% | 9.6% | 31 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 17% | 15% | 35 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.7% | 12% | 73 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 11/yr | 14/yr | 63 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 13/yr | 10/yr | 2 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 74/yr | 77/yr | 56 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 64/yr | 64/yr | 48 of 95 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Virginia county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Henry County: freezing from December to February, 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