Hancock County, WV Shrink-Swell Risk

What Hancock County, WV's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Hancock County, WV's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.76% across 95.9% 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 Hancock County, WV 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 Hancock County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Hancock 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Hancock County, WV is the 2,207-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within West Virginia alone it ranks 33 of 55. Hancock County covers 83 square miles and counts 28,054 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Claiborne Parish, LA and Pinellas County, FL 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 Raleigh County, WV and Summers County, WV. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.