Houghton County, MI Shrink-Swell Risk

Houghton County, MI's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Houghton County, MI: USDA's soil survey rates 97.1% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (0.56% 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 Houghton County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Houghton County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Houghton County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Houghton County, MI 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Houghton County, MI is the 3,044-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Michigan alone it ranks 75 of 83. Houghton County, MI is 1,009 square miles with a population of 38,041.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Fulton County, IL and Taylor County, WI 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 Michigan

Every county in Michigan is on this site, including Keweenaw County, MI and Cheboygan County, MI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.