Houston County, TN Shrink-Swell Risk
Houston County, TN's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Houston County, TN: USDA's soil survey rates 78.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.88% linear extensibility). Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.
What Houston County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Houston County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Houston County.
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Houston County, TN 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.
Houston County's rank among Tennessee counties
Nationally, Houston County, TN is the 2,100-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Tennessee alone it ranks 56 of 95. Houston County covers 200 square miles and counts 8,538 residents.
Before you act on this
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Carter County, KY and Putnam County, FL 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 Tennessee
Every county in Tennessee is on this site, including Sullivan County, TN and Putnam County, TN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.