Prince Edward County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Prince Edward County, VA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Prince Edward County, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.44% across 58% 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 Prince Edward County, VA 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 Prince Edward County, VA 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 Prince Edward County, VA compares

Nationally, Prince Edward County, VA is the 1,608-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 42 of 114. Prince Edward County, VA is 350 square miles with a population of 22,276.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Pontotoc County, OK and St. Joseph County, IN 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Arlington County, VA and Pittsylvania County, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.