Cumberland County, NC Shrink-Swell Risk

Cumberland County, NC's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Cumberland County, NC: USDA's soil survey rates 96.9% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.55% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

What Cumberland County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Cumberland County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. 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 Cumberland County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Cumberland County, NC 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 Cumberland County, NC compares

Nationally, Cumberland County, NC is the 2,440-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Carolina alone it ranks 65 of 100. Cumberland County, NC is 653 square miles with a population of 338,430.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Heard County, GA and Coke County, TX 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 North Carolina

Every county in North Carolina is on this site, including Pasquotank County, NC and Clay County, NC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.