King William County, Virginia · King William
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With 14% 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.
Heavy rain days of an inch or more come about 10.5 times a year here, most often in June. A sump pump that hasn't run since last season is a common weak point.
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 King William County, 4.95 inches fell on the wettest day of the 2015–2024 record. Storms like that, and ice dams in snowy winters, cause most roof leaks.
7% of occupied homes in King William County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Virginia county median of 11.9%.
About 82 nights a year here stay at 65°F or warmer, so basements and crawl spaces can grow mold even without a leak.
Local risk profile
With 7,730 homes and around 18,593 residents, King William County is 274 square miles of eastern Virginia. Besides King William, the county seat, the biggest communities are West Point and Central Garage. Much of its housing is recent, with a median build year of 1996.
42/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate King William County ranks 72 of 95 Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where King William County ranks highest compared with other Virginia counties.
King William County is milder than most of Virginia, but not mild enough to skip winterizing. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 9 nights a year at or below 20°F (71st of 95) and 74 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
Cold snaps are the real risk. The worst in the record lasted 4 days below freezing (ending February 2016), and the low bottomed out near -1°F on January 7, 2018.
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.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Nov 13 and the last spring freeze around Mar 29.
Rainfall is about average for Virginia. About 10.5 days a year bring an inch or more (35th of 95), most often in June, out of 49.4 inches of total precipitation. On October 12, 2018, 4.95 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 6.06 inches (through May 19, 2018).
About 71 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
Virginia's 95 counties range widely in housing age; King William ranks 83rd, with 28% of its homes built before 1980.
Growth since 2000 added 43% 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.
The 1980s and 1990s account for 29% of the county's homes. If yours is from those decades, look under the sinks and at the water heater for gray plastic pipe stamped PB, which is polybutylene and leak-prone.
Beyond water
About 82 nights a year in King William County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (22nd of 95 counties). July is the wettest month. 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 King William County it's 2% utility gas, 87% electric, 5% propane and 3% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across King William County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Caroline and Hanover get more pipe-freeze nights than King William. Caroline County has the oldest housing nearby, with 34% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | King William | Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 14% | 20% | 67 of 95 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 28% | 46% | 83 of 95 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 43% | 25% | 7 of 95 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 3% | 9.6% | 76 of 95 |
| Vacant homes | 4.9% | 15% | 87 of 95 |
| Wood or propane heat | 7.1% | 12% | 78 of 95 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 9/yr | 14/yr | 71 of 95 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 11/yr | 10/yr | 35 of 95 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 71/yr | 77/yr | 65 of 95 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 82/yr | 64/yr | 22 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 William 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