Alcona County, MI Shrink-Swell Risk

What Alcona County, MI's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Alcona County, MI's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.02% across 84.6% of the county's surveyed land. That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Alcona County, MI at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Alcona County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Alcona County, MI 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.

Alcona County's rank among Michigan counties

Nationally, Alcona County, MI is the 1,967-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Michigan alone it ranks 13 of 83. Alcona County covers 675 square miles and counts 10,624 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Lebanon County, PA and Wells County, IN 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 Michigan

Every county in Michigan is on this site, including Washtenaw County, MI and Monroe County, MI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.