Adams County, WA Shrink-Swell Risk

Adams County, WA's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Adams County, WA: USDA's soil survey rates 100% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.5% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

What Adams County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Adams County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Adams County, WA rating "Low", a geotechnical report is still worthwhile before a build, just less urgent than in a high-risk county. A geotechnical report runs $1,000-$5,000, typically around $2,700. Foundation repair, if a specific lot turns out to differ from the county average, runs $5,000-$15,000.

How Adams County, WA compares

Nationally, Adams County, WA is the 2,504-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Washington alone it ranks 32 of 39. Adams County covers 1,925 square miles and counts 21,039 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Doniphan County, KS and Rockland County, NY are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · Moisture management: the cheap fix that works on any soil

More of Washington

Every county in Washington is on this site, including Okanogan County, WA and San Juan County, WA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.