Chickasaw County, IA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Chickasaw County, IA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Chickasaw County, IA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.9% across 50% 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 Chickasaw County, IA 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 Chickasaw County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Chickasaw County, IA 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 Chickasaw County, IA compares

Nationally, Chickasaw County, IA is the 1,264-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Iowa alone it ranks 89 of 99. The county spans 504 square miles, home to 11,719 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Ottawa County, KS and Baldwin County, GA 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 Iowa

Every county in Iowa is on this site, including Cass County, IA and Clarke County, IA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.