Decatur County, GA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Decatur County, GA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Decatur County, GA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.13% across 99.5% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Decatur County, GA 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 Decatur County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Decatur County, GA 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 Decatur County, GA compares

Nationally, Decatur County, GA is the 2,821-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Georgia alone it ranks 127 of 159. Decatur County, GA is 597 square miles with a population of 29,391.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Lincoln Parish, LA and Harris 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 Georgia

Every county in Georgia is on this site, including Echols County, GA and Sumter County, GA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.