Buckingham County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Buckingham County, VA's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Buckingham County, VA's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.5% across 72.1% of the county's surveyed land. Conventional foundations are the reasonable expectation here, with routine moisture-control practice rather than special engineering.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Buckingham County, VA at once, not any single address. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Buckingham County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Buckingham County, VA 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Buckingham County, VA is the 843-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 6 of 114. The county spans 580 square miles, home to 17,115 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Craven County, NC and Livingston County, MO 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Frederick County, VA and Louisa County, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.