Forest County, PA Shrink-Swell Risk

Forest County, PA's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Forest County, PA: USDA's soil survey rates 90.3% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.5% linear extensibility). Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

What Forest County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Forest County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Forest County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Forest County, PA 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.

Forest County's rank among Pennsylvania counties

Nationally, Forest County, PA is the 2,507-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 35 of 67. Forest County, PA is 427 square miles with a population of 6,601.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cherokee County, TX and Fleming County, KY 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 Pennsylvania

Every county in Pennsylvania is on this site, including Cambria County, PA and Franklin County, PA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.