Pierce County, WA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Pierce County, WA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Pierce County, WA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.33% across 94.5% 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 Pierce County, WA at once, not any single address. 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 Pierce County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Pierce County, WA 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.

Pierce County's rank among Washington counties

Nationally, Pierce County, WA is the 2,674-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Washington alone it ranks 37 of 39. The county spans 1,668 square miles, home to 941,170 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Taylor County, FL and Slope County, ND 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 Washington

Every county in Washington is on this site, including Skagit County, WA and Stevens County, WA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.