Fulton County, KY Shrink-Swell Risk

What Fulton County, KY's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Fulton County, KY's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.21% across 71.4% of the county's surveyed land. A real but modest amount of movement - standard foundations usually hold up, but drainage and moisture control around the foundation still matter more than on low-risk soil.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Fulton County, KY at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Fulton County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Fulton County, KY 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Fulton County, KY is the 1,040-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kentucky alone it ranks 40 of 120. Fulton County, KY is 206 square miles with a population of 6,282.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. St. Louis County, MN and Spencer 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 Kentucky

Every county in Kentucky is on this site, including Rowan County, KY and Magoffin County, KY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.