Clay County, AL Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Clay County, AL's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.45% across 96.2% 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 Clay 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 Clay County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Clay 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.

Clay County's rank among Alabama counties

Nationally, Clay County, AL is the 2,569-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Alabama alone it ranks 52 of 67. Clay County, AL is 604 square miles with a population of 14,239.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Campbell County, KY and Franklin County, AL 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 Bullock County, AL and Talladega County, AL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.