Medina County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Moderate

USDA's SSURGO data puts Medina County, TX's soil at "Moderate" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 5.23% across 35.6% of the county's surveyed land. That's a middle reading: not the sharp swings that crack a foundation outright, but enough that grading and drainage are worth getting right.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Medina County, TX 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 Medina County, TX rating "Moderate", 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.

Medina County's rank among Texas counties

Nationally, Medina County, TX is the 250-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 64 of 253. Medina County, TX is 1,325 square miles with a population of 55,619.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cheboygan County, MI and Hertford County, NC 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 Hale County, TX and Brazoria County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.