Androscoggin County, ME Shrink-Swell Risk

Androscoggin County, ME's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Androscoggin County, ME: USDA's soil survey rates 87.8% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.48% linear extensibility). 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.

What Androscoggin County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Androscoggin 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 Androscoggin County, ME 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, Androscoggin County, ME is the 2,531-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Maine alone it ranks 2 of 16. Androscoggin County covers 468 square miles and counts 115,272 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Chenango County, NY and Latah County, ID 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 Maine

Every county in Maine is on this site, including Piscataquis County, ME and Penobscot County, ME. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.