Lebanon County, PA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Lebanon County, PA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Lebanon County, PA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.9% across 78.4% 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 Lebanon County, PA 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 Lebanon County, PA 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.

Lebanon County's rank among Pennsylvania counties

Nationally, Lebanon County, PA is the 2,068-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Pennsylvania alone it ranks 7 of 67. Lebanon County covers 362 square miles and counts 145,319 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Park County, CO and Josephine County, OR 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 Pennsylvania

Every county in Pennsylvania is on this site, including Erie County, PA and Armstrong County, PA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.