DeKalb County, AL Shrink-Swell Risk

What DeKalb County, AL's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts DeKalb County, AL's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.35% across 93.3% 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 DeKalb County, AL at once, not any single address. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

Report cost vs. repair cost

With DeKalb County, AL 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.

DeKalb County's rank among Alabama counties

Nationally, DeKalb County, AL is the 2,659-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Alabama alone it ranks 60 of 67. DeKalb County covers 777 square miles and counts 73,122 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. St. Clair County, AL and Milam 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 Alabama

Every county in Alabama is on this site, including Marshall County, AL and Marion County, AL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.