Clay County, WV Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Clay County, WV's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.98% across 78.2% 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, WV 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 Clay County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Clay County, WV 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 West Virginia counties

Nationally, Clay County, WV is the 2,006-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within West Virginia alone it ranks 27 of 55. Clay County covers 342 square miles and counts 7,689 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. De Witt County, IL and Marshall County, IN 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 West Virginia

Every county in West Virginia is on this site, including Greenbrier County, WV and Tucker County, WV. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.