Amelia County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Amelia County, VA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Amelia County, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.21% across 82.1% 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 Amelia County, VA 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 Amelia County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Amelia County, VA 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.

Amelia County's rank among Virginia counties

Nationally, Amelia County, VA is the 1,789-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 61 of 114. Amelia County, VA is 355 square miles with a population of 13,716.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Walla Walla County, WA and Stephenson County, IL 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Loudoun County, VA and Lynchburg city, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.