Evangeline Parish, LA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Evangeline Parish, LA's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Evangeline Parish, LA's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.61% across 54.2% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Evangeline Parish, LA 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 Evangeline Parish, LA rating "Moderate", 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.

Evangeline Parish's rank among Louisiana counties

Nationally, Evangeline Parish, LA is the 775-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Louisiana alone it ranks 44 of 64. Evangeline Parish covers 662 square miles and counts 31,745 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Sumter County, SC and Zapata 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 Louisiana

Every county in Louisiana is on this site, including Livingston Parish, LA and De Soto Parish, LA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.