Martin County, IN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Martin County, IN's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Martin County, IN's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.18% across 94.3% 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 Martin County, IN 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 Martin County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Martin County, IN 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, Martin County, IN is the 1,819-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Indiana alone it ranks 75 of 90. Martin County covers 336 square miles and counts 9,864 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Wayne County, IA and Dawson County, NE 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 Indiana

Every county in Indiana is on this site, including Tippecanoe County, IN and Steuben County, IN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.