Fredericksburg city, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Fredericksburg city, VA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Fredericksburg city, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.12% across 99.6% 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 Fredericksburg city, VA 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 Fredericksburg city.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Fredericksburg city, 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Fredericksburg city, VA is the 1,875-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 68 of 114. Fredericksburg city covers 10 square miles and counts 29,992 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Henry County, AL and Renville County, MN 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 Smyth County, VA and Buchanan County, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.