Houston County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

What Houston County, TX's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Houston County, TX's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.41% across 48.3% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Houston County, TX 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 Houston County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Houston County, TX 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 Houston County, TX compares

Nationally, Houston County, TX is the 903-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 166 of 253. Houston County covers 1,231 square miles and counts 22,197 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Lincoln County, GA and Kay County, OK 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 Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including Childress County, TX and Moore County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.