Allen Parish, LA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Allen Parish, LA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Allen Parish, LA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.65% across 92.7% 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 Allen Parish, LA at once, not any single address. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Allen Parish.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Allen Parish, LA 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 Allen Parish, LA compares

Nationally, Allen Parish, LA is the 2,337-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Louisiana alone it ranks 60 of 64. Allen Parish covers 762 square miles and counts 22,501 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Ohio County, KY and Wood County, OH 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 Louisiana

Every county in Louisiana is on this site, including St. Charles Parish, LA and Franklin Parish, LA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.