McLennan County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

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

High

USDA's SSURGO data puts McLennan County, TX's soil at "High" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 7.12% across 33.5% of the county's surveyed land. Ground like this needs active moisture control to keep a conventional foundation from cracking - it's not automatic either way.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of McLennan 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 McLennan County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

Given McLennan County's rating, spending a few thousand now is the way to avoid spending tens of thousands later. The report ($1,000-$5,000) is what tells you whether McLennan County's county-level reading applies to your lot; the repair ($5,000-$15,000) is what it costs if you skip that and find out from the cracks instead.

How McLennan County, TX compares

Nationally, McLennan County, TX is the 75-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 27 of 253. McLennan County covers 1,037 square miles and counts 270,358 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Irion County, TX and Lawrence County, PA are worth a look for comparison.

How this reading is built, and its real limits · The warning signs of expansive-clay damage, explained

More of Texas

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