Lucas County, IA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Lucas County, IA's soil means for a foundation

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Lucas County, IA's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 5.58% across 50.8% 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 Lucas County, IA 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 Lucas County, IA 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.

Lucas County's rank among Iowa counties

Nationally, Lucas County, IA is the 206-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Iowa alone it ranks 7 of 99. Lucas County covers 431 square miles and counts 8,758 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Polk County, TN and Bon Homme 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 Iowa

Every county in Iowa is on this site, including Floyd County, IA and Louisa County, IA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.