Lincoln County, WV Shrink-Swell Risk

What Lincoln County, WV's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Lincoln County, WV's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.85% across 73.5% of the county's surveyed land. 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.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Lincoln County, WV 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 Lincoln County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Lincoln County, WV 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, Lincoln County, WV is the 2,123-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within West Virginia alone it ranks 28 of 55. The county spans 437 square miles, home to 19,377 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Genesee County, MI and McCurtain County, OK 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 West Virginia

Every county in West Virginia is on this site, including Greenbrier County, WV and Boone County, WV. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.