Hampshire County, WV Shrink-Swell Risk
Hampshire County, WV's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Hampshire County, WV: USDA's soil survey rates 93.1% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.3% 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 Hampshire County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Hampshire 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 Hampshire County.
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Hampshire County, WV 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.
Hampshire County's rank among West Virginia counties
Nationally, Hampshire County, WV is the 2,703-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within West Virginia alone it ranks 49 of 55. Hampshire County, WV is 640 square miles with a population of 23,793.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Bandera County, TX and Lee County, AL 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 West Virginia
Every county in West Virginia is on this site, including Greenbrier County, WV and Hancock County, WV. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.