Pike County, AR Shrink-Swell Risk

What Pike County, AR's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Pike County, AR's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.87% across 55.9% 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 Pike County, AR 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 Pike County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Pike County, AR 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.

Pike County's rank among Arkansas counties

Nationally, Pike County, AR is the 1,293-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Arkansas alone it ranks 38 of 75. Pike County covers 600 square miles and counts 10,027 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Terrebonne Parish, LA and Marshall County, WV 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 Arkansas

Every county in Arkansas is on this site, including Jefferson County, AR and Fulton County, AR. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.