Putnam County, IN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Putnam County, IN's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Putnam County, IN's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.74% across 53.6% of the county's surveyed land. That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Putnam County, IN 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 Putnam County, IN 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.

Putnam County's rank among Indiana counties

Nationally, Putnam County, IN is the 1,382-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Indiana alone it ranks 55 of 90. The county spans 481 square miles, home to 37,804 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Tioga County, NY and Dawson County, MT 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 Indiana

Every county in Indiana is on this site, including Pike County, IN and Marshall County, IN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.