Franklin County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

Franklin County, VA's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Franklin County, VA: USDA's soil survey rates 87.2% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.93% 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 Franklin County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Franklin 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 Franklin County, VA 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.

Franklin County's rank among Virginia counties

Nationally, Franklin County, VA is the 2,049-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 82 of 114. The county spans 691 square miles, home to 55,637 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Hamilton County, KS and Warren County, MS 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including York County, VA and Brunswick County, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.