Harding County, NM Shrink-Swell Risk

What Harding County, NM's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Harding County, NM's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.69% across 67.2% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Harding County, NM at once, not any single address. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Harding County, NM 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 Harding County, NM compares

Nationally, Harding County, NM is the 1,426-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New Mexico alone it ranks 19 of 32. The county spans 2,125 square miles, home to 635 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Mendocino County, CA and Jeff Davis County, GA 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 New Mexico

Every county in New Mexico is on this site, including Cibola County, NM and Santa Fe County, NM. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.