Ararat in brief
Our main service area is Northern Virginia. We also connect property owners in Martinsville and Henry and Patrick counties with local crews, and Ararat is part of that area.
Ararat is an unincorporated community in southwestern Patrick County, with no town government; the county provides services. It lies along the Ararat River near the North Carolina line, in rolling farm country below the Blue Ridge, with Claudville to the east, Meadows of Dan up the ridge to the north and Stuart, the county seat, to the northeast.
Private wells and septic systems serve essentially every home. What varies is the building, and that's how this page is organized.
The buildings, one type at a time
Older farmhouses
Frame farmhouses, many enlarged over generations, often sit on stone or brick piers or a low stone foundation, with a crawl space under most of the house and sometimes a small cellar. Plumbing was added later and extended as rooms were built, so pipes can run along outside walls and through the coldest parts of the crawl space.
Brick ranches and newer homes
Houses from the middle of the last century onward are usually on block foundations with crawl spaces, and newer ones on sloping lots may have a walk-out lower level. Their plumbing is more modern, but supply lines, water heaters and appliance connections wear out on their own schedule.
Manufactured homes
Common across the area, they rest on piers with skirting around the bottom. Supply lines run under the floor, and a leak there lands in the insulation held against the underside by the belly wrap.
Well houses and outbuildings
Pump houses, barns and sheds with water lines are part of the plumbing system and often the first places to freeze.
Crews who know the roads along the Ararat River.
Speak With Someone LocalWells and septic
With no public water here, a leak is stopped at the well. Switch off the pump at its breaker, close the valve after the pressure tank, and open the lowest faucet in the house to let the tank's stored pressure drain there. Until then, the tank keeps feeding the leak.
The well system can be the source: a pressure tank rusted through at the bottom, a loose fitting at the pressure switch, a split in the buried line from the well, or a pump house pipe that froze. A pump that runs with all the taps closed means water is escaping somewhere.
Septic changes cleanup. Water that came up through a drain is treated as contaminated, and whatever porous material it soaked is removed rather than dried.
Cold nights near the ridge
Ararat sits lower than the plateau above it, but cold air settles in the river valleys on clear winter nights, and a hard freeze comes most years. Pipes split where cold reaches them: crawl spaces with open vents, lines on exterior walls, pump houses, unheated additions, and any house where the heat is turned down or has failed.
Ice expands, pressure builds against the nearest closed valve, and the pipe cracks, often a short way from where the ice formed. Nothing leaks until the thaw. A weekend place or an empty farmhouse can then run water for days.
Close the crawl-space vents for winter, insulate exposed lines, keep a little heat in the pump house, and disconnect hoses. If a house will sit empty, turn off the pump and drain the lines, or have someone check after cold snaps.
Readings, then a scope and price you approve.
Call for Upfront PricingClean, gray or black: why it matters
Not all water is treated the same. Clean water, from a split supply line, the pressure tank or a water heater, can usually be dried out of the materials it reached if drying starts promptly.
Gray water has already been used: a washer drain, a sink or a tub. It isn't sewage, but carpet pad and similar materials it soaked are generally replaced. Black water has come from a toilet with waste, a septic backup, or surface water running in from outside. Porous materials it touched are removed, and surfaces are cleaned before drying.
Clean water that sits for days may be treated more like gray water by the time it's dried, one practical reason to call early.
Tell the crew where the water came from. It decides what can be dried and what has to be replaced.
Close to Ararat
Ararat is part of our Martinsville, Henry & Patrick service area. Neighboring pages cover Claudville, Meadows of Dan and the Town of Stuart.
Ararat service area
We connect farm owners, homeowners, landlords and families looking after a relative's property across ZIP code 24053. It's a long drive from the larger towns, and some homes are down gravel lanes. We'll tell you honestly when a crew can get there, and we'll help you stop the water until they do.
ZIP codes served: 24053
Cellar, walk-out or crawl space, same number.
Water in the Basement? Call NowServices for Ararat properties
- Frozen Pipe Burst Cleanup
- Structural Drying & Dehumidification
- Sewage Backup Cleanup
- Storm & Heavy Rain Water Damage
- Appliance Leak Water Damage
- Burst Pipe Water Damage
Dehumidifiers under and inside the house, logged daily.
Get Help Drying It OutArarat water damage questions
Is Ararat a town?
No. Ararat is an unincorporated community in Patrick County, with no town government or town limits; the county provides services. Its ZIP code is 24053, and we serve all of it the same way.
Our farmhouse has additions from different decades. Why does only one part leak?
Each addition was built and plumbed separately, often over a shallower crawl space with pipes nearer the outside wall. The newest or oldest section is usually the one where lines are least protected from cold. A crew checks the whole crawl space, since water travels along the foundation.
Can a crawl space be dried properly?
Yes, with patience. Standing water is extracted, soaked insulation and torn vapor barrier come out, and dehumidifiers run under the house until the framing reads like dry wood elsewhere.
How do I stop pipes freezing?
Close crawl-space vents, insulate lines on outside walls and under the floor, keep a small heat source in the pump house, and open sink cabinets on the coldest nights.
Will the hardwood floor in our Ararat house recover?
Old wood floors often come back if dried slowly from both sides, including from the crawl space below. Boards that stay cupped can be refinished after they're fully dry.
Could an older Ararat house have cast-iron drains, and what goes wrong with them?
Where old cast-iron drains remain, they corrode inside and crack along the bottom. A sewer smell under the floor is often the first sign. A plumber can camera the line.
On an Ararat hillside, how far should downspouts carry water?
Several feet at least, onto ground sloping away. On a hillside lot, carrying water around the uphill side matters most.
What happens to my belongings during the work?
They're lifted off wet floors or moved to a dry room. For larger losses, contents can be packed out and stored.
Is water from a toilet overflow treated differently?
If the bowl contained waste, yes. Soaked porous materials are removed and surfaces cleaned before any drying begins.