Knox County, KY Shrink-Swell Risk

Knox County, KY's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Knox County, KY: USDA's soil survey rates 71.7% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.28% linear extensibility). 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.

What Knox County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Knox County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Knox 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Knox County, KY is the 1,739-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Kentucky alone it ranks 69 of 120. Knox County covers 386 square miles and counts 29,657 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Jefferson Davis County, MS and Gilmer County, WV 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 Monroe County, KY and Lawrence County, KY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.