Howard County, AR Shrink-Swell Risk

What Howard County, AR's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Howard County, AR's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.86% across 75.1% of the county's surveyed land. That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Howard County, AR 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 Howard County, AR 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.

Howard County's rank among Arkansas counties

Nationally, Howard County, AR is the 1,304-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Arkansas alone it ranks 39 of 75. The county spans 587 square miles, home to 12,387 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Adams County, IL and Alcona County, MI 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 Arkansas

Every county in Arkansas is on this site, including Lonoke County, AR and Lincoln County, AR. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.