Broad Run in brief
Broad Run is an unincorporated community in northeastern Fauquier County, with no local government of its own; the county provides services. It sits near the Prince William County line, between The Plains to the northwest and Haymarket and Gainesville to the east, with the Bull Run Mountains rising along its eastern side and Route 55 and I-66 passing nearby.
Housing is almost entirely rural: older farmhouses, some enlarged over several generations, horse and hobby farms, and newer custom houses on large lots. Foundations vary with age, from stone cellars and crawl spaces under older houses to full poured basements with sump pits under newer ones. Most homes rely on private wells and septic systems.
Service area and the drive out
We connect property owners across ZIP code 20137. The drive matters here. I-66 traffic toward Gainesville can be slow at peak hours, the roads off Route 55 wind, and many properties sit at the end of long lanes or behind gates. We'll tell you honestly when a crew can reach you, and we'll help you stop the water by phone until then.
A few details speed things up: the gate code or who can open it, whether the lane takes a truck and trailer, which building the water is in, and where the well pump breaker is.
ZIP codes served: 20137
Also near Broad Run
Broad Run is part of our Fauquier & the Piedmont service area. Neighboring pages cover The Plains, Marshall and Warrenton in Fauquier County, and Haymarket and Gainesville across the line in Prince William County.
What it involves and what it costs, before any work.
Call for Upfront PricingStopping water on a private well
With no street main, the water in a Broad Run house comes from a well pump pushing into a pressure tank. When a pipe breaks, turning off the pump is only half the job. Switch off the pump at its breaker, close the valve on the house side of the tank, then open a faucet on the lowest floor so the stored pressure has somewhere to go besides the leak.
On larger properties, one well may feed the house, a barn, a guest house and field hydrants. Valves on each branch let you isolate a leak without cutting water to the animals. If you don't have them, a well contractor can add them, and it's worth doing before winter.
The well equipment can leak too: a tank rusted at the bottom, a pressure switch fitting, a water softener or filter housing. Septic matters for the cleanup: anything that came back up through a drain is treated as contaminated, and porous materials it soaked are removed.
Label the well pump breaker and the tank valve now. In the dark, with water on the floor, nobody wants to guess.
Seepage after rain, or a pipe that let go?
Water in the Basement? Call NowClay, slope and basements
The soil in this part of the county is heavy with clay. It holds water after a long rain and presses it against foundation walls for days afterward. Wherever there's a path, such as a crack, a tie hole, a pipe entry or the cold joint where wall meets floor, water finds it. Clay also swells when wet and shrinks in dry summers, which slowly opens gaps and lets the backfill around a house settle into a slope toward the wall.
Houses near the foot of the mountains, or below pasture, take runoff from higher ground as well. A walk-out lower level facing downhill collects whatever gets past the house.
Drying repairs the damage inside. The lasting fixes are outside: a swale to carry water around the house, grading that falls away from the walls, downspouts carried well out, and a working sump where the basement has one.
Crawl space, joists and subfloor dried and measured.
Get Help Drying It OutCrawl spaces under older houses and additions
Many older Broad Run farmhouses have a crawl space somewhere, often under a later addition or porch enclosure, even where the original house has a cellar. A crawl space sits between damp ground and a warm house with little airflow, and its vents often let in humid summer air. Water arrives from a split supply line, a freeze, groundwater or a downspout emptying beside the wall, and it can sit on the soil or vapor barrier for weeks before anyone looks.
Once it's wet, fiberglass insulation between the joists sags and usually has to come out. Standing water is pumped, damaged vapor barrier is replaced, and the space is dried with dehumidifiers and air movers until the joists and subfloor read normal. Reaching the space is often the hard part: a small hatch, tight headroom, and a long run of hose from the truck.
Pump breaker, tank valve, low faucet: step by step.
Call and We'll Walk You Through ItServices for Broad Run properties
- Frozen Pipe Burst Cleanup
- Basement Seepage & Groundwater
- Structural Drying & Dehumidification
- Sewage Backup Cleanup
- Storm & Heavy Rain Water Damage
- Vacant Unit Water Damage
Broad Run water damage questions
Is Broad Run part of Haymarket or Gainesville?
No. Broad Run is in Fauquier County, while Haymarket and Gainesville are across the line in Prince William County. Some nearby addresses use Haymarket or Gainesville mailing names, which causes confusion. For our purposes it doesn't change anything: we cover ZIP code 20137 and the neighboring areas.
The subdivisions near us have public water. Why are we on a well?
Public water and sewer lines extend into the planned communities on the Prince William side of the line, but the Fauquier countryside around Broad Run is largely outside any public service area. Houses here rely on private wells and septic. That changes how you shut water off and how a drain backup is cleaned up.
Should we worry about a manufactured home?
Manufactured homes handle water differently. A leak under the floor soaks the insulation in the belly wrap and can pool there unseen. Supply lines under the home freeze easily if skirting is damaged. Drying usually means opening the belly, removing wet insulation and drying from underneath.
Which pipes are most likely to freeze?
Pipes in crawl spaces, along exterior walls, in unheated garages and attics, and lines to barns and hydrants. Well houses and pump sheds are common trouble spots. Keep crawl-space vents closed in winter and a small heat source in the well house.
Our Broad Run sump pump is running but the basement still got water. Why?
The pump may be too small for how fast water arrives, the discharge line may be blocked, frozen or emptying back toward the house, or water may be coming in somewhere the drain tile doesn't reach, such as a window well or a door. The crew will look at each.
My house has galvanized pipes. Is that a problem?
Galvanized steel corrodes from the inside over decades, narrowing the pipe and weakening threaded joints. Low pressure, rusty water and leaks at fittings are the signs. A plumber can assess what's left; we dry what's wet.
Why does the room still smell after it looks dry?
Something is still damp: pad, the bottom of drywall, insulation or a crawl space below. Surfaces dry first. Meter readings find the rest.
On a big Broad Run lot, where should downspout water end up?
Several feet from the foundation at least, onto ground that falls away. On clay soil, farther is better. Buried extensions work if they're kept clear.
What should I tell you when I call?
Where the water is, what caused it if you know, how long it's been, whether it's clean or drain water, how to reach the property, and whether you're on a well.