Gulf County, FL Shrink-Swell Risk

What Gulf County, FL's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Gulf County, FL's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.74% across 91.2% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Gulf County, FL 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 Gulf County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Gulf County, FL 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 Gulf County, FL compares

Nationally, Gulf County, FL is the 2,234-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Florida alone it ranks 2 of 66. The county spans 553 square miles, home to 15,876 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Macon County, IL and King George County, VA 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 Florida

Every county in Florida is on this site, including Lee County, FL and Indian River County, FL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.