Columbia County, WI Shrink-Swell Risk

What Columbia County, WI's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Columbia County, WI's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.04% across 77.2% 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 Columbia County, WI 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 Columbia County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Columbia County, WI 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 Columbia County, WI compares

Nationally, Columbia County, WI is the 1,947-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Wisconsin alone it ranks 33 of 72. The county spans 766 square miles, home to 58,113 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Ulster County, NY and Calhoun County, IL 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 Wisconsin

Every county in Wisconsin is on this site, including La Crosse County, WI and Iowa County, WI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.