Chautauqua County, KS Shrink-Swell Risk

What Chautauqua County, KS's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Chautauqua County, KS's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 5.45% across 52.7% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Chautauqua County, KS 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 Chautauqua County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Chautauqua County, KS 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.

Chautauqua County's rank among Kansas counties

Nationally, Chautauqua County, KS is the 222-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kansas alone it ranks 38 of 105. Chautauqua County covers 639 square miles and counts 3,339 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Scott County, VA and Sumter County, SC 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 Kansas

Every county in Kansas is on this site, including Decatur County, KS and Riley County, KS. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.