Barber County, KS Shrink-Swell Risk

What Barber County, KS's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Barber County, KS's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.17% across 53.4% of the county's surveyed land. A real but modest amount of movement - standard foundations usually hold up, but drainage and moisture control around the foundation still matter more than on low-risk soil.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Barber County, KS 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 Barber County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Barber County, KS rating "Moderate", 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 Barber County, KS compares

Nationally, Barber County, KS is the 1,073-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kansas alone it ranks 74 of 105. Barber County, KS is 1,134 square miles with a population of 4,070.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Morrison County, MN and Fountain 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 Kansas

Every county in Kansas is on this site, including Ford County, KS and Pratt County, KS. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.