Hanover County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

Hanover County, VA's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Hanover County, VA: USDA's soil survey rates 78% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.1% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

What Hanover County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Hanover County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Hanover County, VA 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 Hanover County, VA compares

Nationally, Hanover County, VA is the 1,889-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 69 of 114. The county spans 468 square miles, home to 115,309 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Hamblen County, TN and Warren County, NJ 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Petersburg city, VA and Sussex County, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.