Choctaw County, AL Shrink-Swell Risk

What Choctaw County, AL's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Choctaw County, AL's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.29% across 76.4% of the county's surveyed land. That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Choctaw County, AL 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 Choctaw County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Choctaw County, AL 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.

Choctaw County's rank among Alabama counties

Nationally, Choctaw County, AL is the 1,734-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Alabama alone it ranks 20 of 67. Choctaw County covers 913 square miles and counts 12,052 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Dorchester County, MD and Sandusky County, OH 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 Alabama

Every county in Alabama is on this site, including Cherokee County, AL and Wilcox County, AL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.