Bertie County, NC Shrink-Swell Risk

Bertie County, NC's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Bertie County, NC: USDA's soil survey rates 59.8% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.86% 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 Bertie County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Bertie County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Bertie County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Bertie County, NC 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.

Bertie County's rank among North Carolina counties

Nationally, Bertie County, NC is the 1,302-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Carolina alone it ranks 11 of 100. The county spans 699 square miles, home to 16,939 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Union County, PA and Orange County, CA 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 North Carolina

Every county in North Carolina is on this site, including Beaufort County, NC and Perquimans County, NC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.