Barton County, KS Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Barton County, KS's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 4.12% across 42.3% 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 Barton 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 Barton County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Barton 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.

Barton County's rank among Kansas counties

Nationally, Barton County, KS is the 513-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kansas alone it ranks 52 of 105. The county spans 895 square miles, home to 24,835 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cook County, GA and Brown County, MN 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 Marion County, KS and Norton County, KS. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.