Elbert County, CO Shrink-Swell Risk

What Elbert County, CO's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Elbert County, CO's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.89% across 63.8% of the county's surveyed land. 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.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Elbert County, CO 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 Elbert County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Elbert 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 Elbert County, CO compares

Nationally, Elbert County, CO is the 1,267-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Colorado alone it ranks 11 of 63. Elbert County covers 1,850 square miles and counts 29,382 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Sumner County, TN and Queens County, NY 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 Kit Carson County, CO and Adams County, CO. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.