Lake County, IN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Lake County, IN's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Lake County, IN's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.92% across 68% 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 Lake County, IN 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 Lake County, IN 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, Lake County, IN is the 1,248-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Indiana alone it ranks 48 of 90. Lake County covers 499 square miles and counts 502,955 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Carroll County, AR and Oneida County, WI 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 Indiana

Every county in Indiana is on this site, including Ripley County, IN and Hamilton County, IN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.