Nicholas County, WV Shrink-Swell Risk

What Nicholas County, WV's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Nicholas County, WV's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.42% across 98.8% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Nicholas County, WV 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 Nicholas County, WV 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.

How Nicholas County, WV compares

Nationally, Nicholas County, WV is the 2,598-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within West Virginia alone it ranks 45 of 55. Nicholas County covers 647 square miles and counts 24,017 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Howard County, IA and Armstrong County, PA 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 West Virginia

Every county in West Virginia is on this site, including Hampshire County, WV and Wood County, WV. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.