Horry County, SC Shrink-Swell Risk

What Horry County, SC's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Horry County, SC's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.99% across 85.7% 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 Horry County, SC at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Horry County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Horry County, SC 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.

Horry County's rank among South Carolina counties

Nationally, Horry County, SC is the 1,990-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within South Carolina alone it ranks 19 of 46. Horry County covers 1,133 square miles and counts 413,391 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cortland County, NY and Sharp County, AR 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 South Carolina

Every county in South Carolina is on this site, including Laurens County, SC and Kershaw County, SC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.