Pleasants County, West Virginia · St. Marys
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Pipes freeze in Pleasants County on about 24 nights a year, mostly November to March. Older homes, 31% of the stock here, are most at risk.
Basements flood here mostly in August. Pleasants County averages 7.9 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Pleasants County spike on heavy-rain days, about 7.9 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Pleasants County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.73 inches, and about 87 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
10% of occupied homes in Pleasants County heat mainly with wood or propane, close to the West Virginia county median of 10.1%.
With 36 muggy nights a year, mold in Pleasants County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
Pleasants County covers 130 square miles of western West Virginia, with about 7,521 residents and 3,222 homes. St. Marys is the county seat; Belmont is the next largest community. The county's median home was built in 1976.
59/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Pleasants County ranks 15 of 55 West Virginia counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Pleasants County ranks highest compared with other West Virginia counties.
For frozen pipes, Pleasants County is a typical West Virginia county, which is still plenty. From 2015–2024 it averaged 24 nights a year at 20°F or colder, the range where pipes in exterior walls, crawl spaces and unheated garages freeze, and 102 nights at or below 32°F. That ranks 31st of 55 counties.
The longest cold spell was straight 13 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in January 2018. The coldest night reached about -9°F on February 20, 2015. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs November to March, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
On average the first fall freeze arrives around Oct 31 and the last spring freeze around Apr 21.
Heavy rain is a bigger factor here than in most of West Virginia. About 7.9 days a year bring an inch or more (8th of 55), most often in August, out of 47.7 inches of total precipitation. On September 30, 2015, 2.73 inches fell in a single day. Multi-day storms matter most for basements; the wettest three days on record here totaled 4.38 inches (through June 23, 2018).
Freeze-thaw days, below freezing overnight and above it by afternoon, come about 87 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 56% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Pleasants near the middle of West Virginia's 55 counties.
The mix runs from 31% built before 1960 to 17% built since 2000, so older neighborhoods bring aging pipe while newer subdivisions bring failed appliance lines and water heaters.
About 27% 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.
Here 23% of housing is manufactured homes. Check the skirting and the heat tape on the main water line every fall, because that one exposed line is what freezes.
Beyond water
About 36 nights a year in Pleasants County stay at 65°F or warmer, a sign of muggy summer air (13th of 55 counties). June 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 expectMain heating fuel in Pleasants County's occupied homes: 67% utility gas, 22% electric, 7% 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 Pleasants County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Tyler gets more pipe-freeze nights than Pleasants. Wood County has the oldest housing nearby, with 66% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Pleasants | West Virginia median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 31% | 31% | 28 of 55 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 56% | 55% | 26 of 55 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 17% | 17% | 29 of 55 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 23% | 16% | 12 of 55 |
| Vacant homes | 14% | 17% | 39 of 55 |
| Wood or propane heat | 9.7% | 10% | 28 of 55 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 24/yr | 25/yr | 31 of 55 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 7.9/yr | 6.8/yr | 8 of 55 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 87/yr | 89/yr | 36 of 55 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 36/yr | 27/yr | 13 of 55 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest West Virginia county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Pleasants County: freezing from November to March, heavy rain in February, June and August.
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