Prince William County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Prince William County, VA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.82% across 63.1% 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 William 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 William 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Prince William County, VA is the 1,329-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Virginia alone it ranks 21 of 114. Prince William County covers 335 square miles and counts 497,003 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Stephens County, TX and Jefferson County, WI 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 Page County, VA and Nottoway County, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.