King and Queen County, Virginia · King and Queen Court House
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With 19% of homes built before 1960 and about 9 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to King and Queen County, part of 10.2 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
19% 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.
King and Queen County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 5.01 inches, and about 69 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
11% of occupied homes in King and Queen County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the Virginia county median of 11.9%.
With 85 muggy nights a year, mold in King and Queen County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
King and Queen County covers 315 square miles of eastern Virginia, with about 6,695 residents and 3,511 homes. King and Queen Court House is the county seat. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1991.
47/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated King and Queen County ranks 60 of 95 Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where King and Queen County ranks highest compared with other Virginia counties.
Winters here are on the gentler end for Virginia, and pipes still freeze. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 9 nights a year at or below 20°F (71st of 95) and 72 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
On January 6, 2018 the low fell to about 1°F, and in the stretch ending February 2016 the county went 4 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 13 and end around Mar 28.
Rainfall is about average for Virginia. The county gets about 49.2 inches of rain and melted snow a year, with 10.2 days of an inch or more (41st of 95). Those downpours cluster in June, September and October, when sump pumps and gutters are tested hardest. The wettest day on record brought 5.01 inches on October 12, 2018. The worst three-day stretch dropped 5.4 inches, ending May 19, 2018, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 69 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
Roughly 34% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts King and Queen among the newer housing stocks of Virginia's 95 counties.
Growth since 2000 added 30% 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.
36% 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.
21% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, above the Virginia county median of 9.6%. 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.
Beyond water
About 85 nights a year in King and Queen County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (16th of 95 counties). July is the wettest month. 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 expectBy main heating fuel, King and Queen County homes break down as 2% utility gas, 82% electric, 4% propane and 7% 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 King and Queen County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Caroline gets more pipe-freeze nights than King and Queen. Essex County has the oldest housing nearby, with 51% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | King and Queen | Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 19% | 20% | 51 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 34% | 46% | 70 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 30% | 25% | 31 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 21% | 9.6% | 12 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 15% | 15% | 49 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 11% | 12% | 54 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 9/yr | 14/yr | 71 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 10/yr | 10/yr | 41 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 69/yr | 77/yr | 72 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 85/yr | 64/yr | 16 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 King and Queen County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in June, 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