Knott County, KY Shrink-Swell Risk

What Knott County, KY's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Knott County, KY's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.22% across 100% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Knott County, KY 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 Knott County, KY 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 Knott County, KY compares

Nationally, Knott County, KY is the 2,761-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kentucky alone it ranks 111 of 120. Knott County covers 352 square miles and counts 13,438 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Charlotte County, VA and Linn County, MO 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 Kentucky

Every county in Kentucky is on this site, including Union County, KY and Madison County, KY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.