Garfield County, WA Shrink-Swell Risk

Garfield County, WA's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Garfield County, WA: USDA's soil survey rates 71.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.51% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

What Garfield County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Garfield County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. 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 Garfield County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Garfield County, WA 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.

Garfield County's rank among Washington counties

Nationally, Garfield County, WA is the 1,560-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Washington alone it ranks 3 of 39. Garfield County, WA is 711 square miles with a population of 2,404.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Wayne County, IN and Marquette County, MI 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 Washington

Every county in Washington is on this site, including Okanogan County, WA and Adams County, WA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.