Iowa County, WI Shrink-Swell Risk

What Iowa County, WI's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Iowa County, WI's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.44% across 49.1% 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 Iowa County, WI 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 Iowa County, WI 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.

Iowa County's rank among Wisconsin counties

Nationally, Iowa County, WI is the 881-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Wisconsin alone it ranks 8 of 72. Iowa County, WI is 763 square miles with a population of 23,963.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Somerset County, NJ and Monona County, IA 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 Wisconsin

Every county in Wisconsin is on this site, including Trempealeau County, WI and Winnebago County, WI. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.