Door County, Wisconsin · Sturgeon Bay
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With 26% of homes built before 1960 and about 66 hard-freeze nights a year, frozen and split pipes are a leading winter risk in the county.
June brings the most downpours to Door County, part of 4.7 heavy-rain days a year. Check the sump first.
26% 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.
Door County's wettest day in the 2015–2024 record brought 2.41 inches, and about 93 freeze-thaw days a year mean ice dams in some winters.
45% of occupied homes in Door County heat mainly with wood or propane, above the Wisconsin county median of 32.9%.
With 6 muggy nights a year, mold in Door County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 24,436 homes and around 30,445 residents, Door County is 482 square miles of eastern Wisconsin. Besides Sturgeon Bay, the county seat, the biggest communities are Sister Bay, Forestville and Ephraim. Half the homes here were built before 1983, half after.
26/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Moderate Door County ranks 69 of 72 Wisconsin counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Door County ranks highest compared with other Wisconsin counties.
Pipe-freeze risk in Door County sits near the middle of the state. It averaged 151 freezing nights a year over 2015–2024, 66 of them at 20°F or colder, cold enough for pipes in outside walls and crawl spaces to freeze. Among 72 Wisconsin counties that's 45th.
On January 31, 2019 the low fell to about -19°F, and in the stretch ending February 2015 the county went 25 days in a row below freezing. Leaks from split pipes typically appear the day the thaw arrives.
Most freezing nights fall from November to April, peaking in January. Disconnect garden hoses and shut off outdoor spigots before the first hard frost, and keep the heat at 55°F or higher if you'll be away.
Freezing nights typically start around Oct 23 and end around May 9.
Door gets fewer downpours than most Wisconsin counties, but they still fill basements. Of roughly 34 inches of yearly precipitation, the damage comes from the 4.7 days a year with an inch or more, ranked 64th of 72. May, June and August see the most. The single wettest day in the record: 2.41 inches, December 14, 2015. The worst three-day stretch dropped 3.42 inches, ending December 15, 2015, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
The temperature crosses 32°F in both directions on roughly 93 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
Roughly 46% of the county's housing was built before 1980. That puts Door among the newer housing stocks of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
27% of homes were built in 2000 or later, more than in most of Wisconsin. Newer plumbing rarely corrodes, so damage here tends to come from appliance supply lines, water heaters, sump pumps and storms.
28% 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.
The Census counted 39% of homes as vacant, above the Wisconsin county median of 12%. Empty houses are where a small leak turns into a large claim, because nobody is there to hear it.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 6 times a year here, below the Wisconsin county median of 11. 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 expectHeating fuel matters for fire risk. In Door County it's 38% utility gas, 13% electric, 41% propane and 4% wood. Propane 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 Door County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Marinette and Oconto get more pipe-freeze nights than Door. Kewaunee County has the oldest housing nearby, with 63% of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Door | Wisconsin median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 26% | 31% | 53 of 72 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 46% | 54% | 65 of 72 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 27% | 21% | 7 of 72 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 5.7% | 4.8% | 28 of 72 |
| Vacant homes | 39% | 12% | 12 of 72 |
| Wood or propane heat | 45% | 33% | 21 of 72 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 66/yr | 73/yr | 45 of 72 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.7/yr | 6.3/yr | 64 of 72 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 93/yr | 94/yr | 38 of 72 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 6/yr | 11/yr | 49 of 72 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Wisconsin county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Door County: freezing from November to April, heavy rain in May, 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