Isle of Wight County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Isle of Wight County, VA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Isle of Wight County, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.52% across 76% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Isle of Wight County, VA at once, not any single address. 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 Isle of Wight County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Isle of Wight County, VA 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Isle of Wight County, VA is the 1,546-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 38 of 114. Isle of Wight County, VA is 316 square miles with a population of 40,942.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cumberland County, ME and Glynn County, GA 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Emporia city, VA and Montgomery County, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.