Dolores County, CO Shrink-Swell Risk

Dolores County, CO's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Dolores County, CO: USDA's soil survey rates 66.5% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.72% linear extensibility). That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

What Dolores County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Dolores County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Dolores County, CO 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 Dolores County, CO compares

Nationally, Dolores County, CO is the 1,396-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Colorado alone it ranks 17 of 63. Dolores County, CO is 1,067 square miles with a population of 2,467.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Jefferson County, TN and Butte County, SD 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 Colorado

Every county in Colorado is on this site, including Routt County, CO and Weld County, CO. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.