Holmes County, FL Shrink-Swell Risk

What Holmes County, FL's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Holmes County, FL's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.19% across 98.1% 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 Holmes County, FL 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 Holmes County, FL 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 Holmes County, FL compares

Nationally, Holmes County, FL is the 2,775-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Florida alone it ranks 21 of 66. Holmes County, FL is 479 square miles with a population of 19,876.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Powell County, KY and Lawrence County, IL 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 Florida

Every county in Florida is on this site, including Duval County, FL and Santa Rosa County, FL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.