Cumberland County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Cumberland County, VA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Cumberland County, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.77% across 71.3% 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 Cumberland County, VA 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 Cumberland County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Cumberland County, VA 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, VA compares

Nationally, Cumberland County, VA is the 1,365-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 25 of 114. Cumberland County, VA is 297 square miles with a population of 10,062.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Daviess County, KY and Knox County, MO 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Lancaster County, VA and Virginia Beach city, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.