Milam County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk
Milam County, TX's soil, for shrink-swell risk
High
Milam County, TX: USDA's soil survey rates 43.9% of the county "High" for shrink-swell potential (6.1% linear extensibility). Ground like this needs active moisture control to keep a conventional foundation from cracking - it's not automatic either way.
What Milam County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Milam County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Milam County.
What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it
With Milam County, TX rating "High", the gap between finding out early and finding out late is the whole decision. The report ($1,000-$5,000) is what tells you whether Milam 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 Milam County, TX compares
Nationally, Milam County, TX is the 115-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 39 of 253. Milam County covers 1,016 square miles and counts 26,159 residents.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Acadia Parish, LA and Nantucket County, MA 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 Titus County, TX and Polk County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.