Denton County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

What Denton County, TX's soil means for a foundation

High

USDA's SSURGO data puts Denton County, TX's soil at "High" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 6.61% across 43% of the county's surveyed land. Soil at this level can crack a standard foundation without moisture-control measures - consistent watering near the foundation, correct grading, root barriers - or added structural design.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Denton County, TX at once, not any single address. 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 Denton County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

Denton County's soil reading is exactly the case where a report before construction, or before cracks widen, pays for itself. The report ($1,000-$5,000) is what tells you whether Denton County's county-level reading applies to your lot; the repair ($5,000-$15,000) is what it costs if you skip that and find out from the cracks instead.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Denton County, TX is the 85-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 30 of 253. The county spans 879 square miles, home to 1,045,120 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Madison County, MO and Haskell County, OK are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · The warning signs of expansive-clay damage, explained

More of Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including Milam County, TX and Smith County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.