Mason County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

What Mason County, TX's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Mason County, TX's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.48% across 61.7% 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 Mason County, TX 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 Mason County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Mason County, TX 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.

Mason County's rank among Texas counties

Nationally, Mason County, TX is the 1,581-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 216 of 253. Mason County, TX is 929 square miles with a population of 3,987.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Halifax County, VA and Bennington County, VT 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 Texas

Every county in Texas is on this site, including Caldwell County, TX and McMullen County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.