Aiken County, SC Shrink-Swell Risk

What Aiken County, SC's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Aiken County, SC's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 0.85% across 98.5% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Aiken County, SC at once, not any single address. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Aiken County, SC 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Aiken County, SC is the 2,963-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within South Carolina alone it ranks 46 of 46. Aiken County covers 1,071 square miles and counts 179,245 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Daniels County, MT and Haywood County, TN 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 South Carolina

Every county in South Carolina is on this site, including Lee County, SC and Hampton County, SC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.