Frederick County, MD Shrink-Swell Risk

What Frederick County, MD's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Frederick County, MD's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.9% across 89.2% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Frederick County, MD 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 Frederick County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Frederick County, MD 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 Frederick County, MD compares

Nationally, Frederick County, MD is the 2,067-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Maryland alone it ranks 3 of 24. The county spans 661 square miles, home to 299,317 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Smith County, KS and Macon County, TN 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 Maryland

Every county in Maryland is on this site, including Cecil County, MD and Howard County, MD. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.