Pendleton County, WV Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Pendleton County, WV's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.74% across 83.5% 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 Pendleton County, WV 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 Pendleton County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Pendleton 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Pendleton County, WV is the 2,242-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within West Virginia alone it ranks 38 of 55. Pendleton County, WV is 696 square miles with a population of 5,944.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Geauga County, OH and Rockwall County, TX 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 Putnam County, WV and Webster County, WV. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.