Lee County, SC Shrink-Swell Risk
Lee County, SC's soil, for shrink-swell risk
Low
Lee County, SC: USDA's soil survey rates 99.4% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.24% 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 Lee County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Lee County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Lee County.
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Lee County, SC 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, Lee County, SC is the 2,745-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within South Carolina alone it ranks 42 of 46. Lee County covers 410 square miles and counts 15,958 residents.
Before you act on this
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Baker County, FL and Lincoln County, NM 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 South Carolina
Every county in South Carolina is on this site, including Abbeville County, SC and Saluda County, SC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.