Caroline County, MD Shrink-Swell Risk

What Caroline County, MD's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Caroline County, MD's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 0.98% across 100% 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 Caroline County, MD 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 Caroline County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Caroline County, MD 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Caroline County, MD is the 2,902-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Maryland alone it ranks 22 of 24. Caroline County covers 319 square miles and counts 34,248 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Emmet County, MI and Floyd 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 Maryland

Every county in Maryland is on this site, including Calvert County, MD and Harford County, MD. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.