Kent County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

Kent County, TX's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Kent County, TX: USDA's soil survey rates 82.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.1% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

What Kent County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Kent 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 Kent County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Kent County, TX 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 Kent County, TX compares

Nationally, Kent County, TX is the 1,897-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 227 of 253. Kent County, TX is 903 square miles with a population of 703.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Lake County, OR and Brown County, KS 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 Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including Jackson County, TX and Moore County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.