Henry County, IA Shrink-Swell Risk

Henry County, IA's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Moderate

Henry County, IA: USDA's soil survey rates 71.6% of the county "Moderate" for shrink-swell potential (5.06% linear extensibility). A real but modest amount of movement - standard foundations usually hold up, but drainage and moisture control around the foundation still matter more than on low-risk soil.

What Henry County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Henry 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 Henry County, IA 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.

How Henry County, IA compares

Nationally, Henry County, IA is the 285-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Iowa alone it ranks 18 of 99. Henry County covers 434 square miles and counts 19,361 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Comanche County, OK and Oswego County, NY 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 Iowa

Every county in Iowa is on this site, including Mahaska County, IA and Hancock County, IA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.