Graves County, KY Shrink-Swell Risk

Graves County, KY's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Graves County, KY: USDA's soil survey rates 99.9% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.35% 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 Graves County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Graves County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Graves County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Graves County, KY 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, Graves County, KY is the 2,661-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kentucky alone it ranks 107 of 120. Graves County covers 552 square miles and counts 36,821 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Nottoway County, VA and Richland County, IL 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 Bullitt County, KY and Bracken County, KY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.