Las Animas County, CO Shrink-Swell Risk

What Las Animas County, CO's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Las Animas County, CO's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 3.25% across 53.7% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Las Animas County, CO at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Las Animas County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Las Animas County, CO rating "Moderate", 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, Las Animas County, CO is the 1,016-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Colorado alone it ranks 2 of 63. Las Animas County, CO is 4,773 square miles with a population of 14,518.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Ashe County, NC and Turner County, SD 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 Colorado

Every county in Colorado is on this site, including Custer County, CO and Garfield County, CO. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.