Chaffee County, CO Shrink-Swell Risk

What Chaffee County, CO's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Chaffee County, CO's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 0.83% across 98.5% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Chaffee County, CO 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 Chaffee County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Chaffee County, CO 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.

How Chaffee County, CO compares

Nationally, Chaffee County, CO is the 2,971-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Colorado alone it ranks 60 of 63. Chaffee County covers 1,013 square miles and counts 20,780 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. McDowell County, NC and St. Louis city, 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 Colorado

Every county in Colorado is on this site, including Teller County, CO and Custer County, CO. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.