Howard County, MD Shrink-Swell Risk

Howard County, MD's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Howard County, MD: USDA's soil survey rates 78.3% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.94% linear extensibility). 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.

What Howard County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Howard 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 Howard County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Howard County, MD 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.

How Howard County, MD compares

Nationally, Howard County, MD is the 2,037-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Maryland alone it ranks 2 of 24. Howard County, MD is 251 square miles with a population of 339,668.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Elliott County, KY and Jefferson County, IN 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 Maryland

Every county in Maryland is on this site, including Baltimore County, MD and Montgomery County, MD. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.