Hamilton County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

What Hamilton County, TX's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Hamilton County, TX's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 4.18% across 57.2% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Hamilton County, TX 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 Hamilton County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Hamilton County, TX 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, Hamilton County, TX is the 486-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 114 of 253. The county spans 836 square miles, home to 8,644 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Perry County, KY and Kinney County, TX 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 Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including Nacogdoches County, TX and Armstrong County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.