Madison County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Madison County, VA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Madison County, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.08% across 77.3% 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 Madison County, VA at once, not any single address. 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 Madison County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Madison County, VA 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.

How Madison County, VA compares

Nationally, Madison County, VA is the 1,907-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 72 of 114. The county spans 321 square miles, home to 14,252 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Hillsborough County, FL and Johnson County, IN 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Richmond County, VA and Chesapeake city, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.