Orange County, VT Shrink-Swell Risk

What Orange County, VT's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Orange County, VT's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.13% across 100% 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 Orange County, VT 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 Orange County, VT 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 Orange County, VT compares

Nationally, Orange County, VT is the 2,820-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Vermont alone it ranks 8 of 14. The county spans 687 square miles, home to 30,050 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. White County, GA and Wilkin County, MN 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 Vermont

Every county in Vermont is on this site, including Chittenden County, VT and Rutland County, VT. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.