Catawba County, NC Shrink-Swell Risk

What Catawba County, NC's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Catawba County, NC's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.66% across 98.8% 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 Catawba County, NC 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 Catawba County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Catawba 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.

Catawba County's rank among North Carolina counties

Nationally, Catawba County, NC is the 2,321-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Carolina alone it ranks 52 of 100. Catawba County covers 401 square miles and counts 167,054 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Bureau County, IL and Henry County, VA 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 Person County, NC and Edgecombe County, NC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.