Blaine County, ID Shrink-Swell Risk

What Blaine County, ID's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Blaine County, ID's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.4% across 72.6% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Blaine County, ID 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 Blaine County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Blaine County, ID 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.

Blaine County's rank among Idaho counties

Nationally, Blaine County, ID is the 1,647-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Idaho alone it ranks 19 of 44. Blaine County covers 2,638 square miles and counts 25,261 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Ballard County, KY and Osceola County, IA 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 Idaho

Every county in Idaho is on this site, including Bonneville County, ID and Custer County, ID. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.