Jefferson County, WA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Jefferson County, WA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Jefferson County, WA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.95% across 82% 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 Jefferson County, WA 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 Jefferson County, WA 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.

Jefferson County's rank among Washington counties

Nationally, Jefferson County, WA is the 2,032-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Washington alone it ranks 16 of 39. The county spans 1,804 square miles, home to 33,944 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Yolo County, CA and Weber County, UT 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 Washington

Every county in Washington is on this site, including Yakima County, WA and Grays Harbor County, WA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.