Mathews County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Mathews County, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.81% across 94.1% 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 Mathews County, VA 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 Mathews 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Mathews County, VA is the 2,164-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 94 of 114. The county spans 86 square miles, home to 8,602 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Tulare County, CA and Somerset County, ME 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 Rockbridge County, VA and Falls Church city, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.