Mecklenburg County, NC Shrink-Swell Risk

What Mecklenburg County, NC's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Mecklenburg County, NC's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.78% across 72% 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 Mecklenburg County, NC 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 Mecklenburg County, NC 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, Mecklenburg County, NC is the 1,355-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Carolina alone it ranks 12 of 100. Mecklenburg County covers 524 square miles and counts 1,206,285 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Millard County, UT and Maries County, MO 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 North Carolina

Every county in North Carolina is on this site, including Lee County, NC and Lincoln County, NC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.