Middlesex County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Middlesex County, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2% across 95.3% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Middlesex County, VA 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 Middlesex County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Middlesex 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.

Middlesex County's rank among Virginia counties

Nationally, Middlesex County, VA is the 1,987-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 80 of 114. The county spans 130 square miles, home to 10,949 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Grant Parish, LA and Gadsden County, FL 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 Rappahannock County, VA and Newport News city, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.