Putnam County, NY Shrink-Swell Risk

Putnam County, NY's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Putnam County, NY: USDA's soil survey rates 100% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (0.57% linear extensibility). 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.

What Putnam County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Putnam County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Putnam County will actually do.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Putnam County, NY 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 New York counties

Nationally, Putnam County, NY is the 3,041-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New York alone it ranks 62 of 62. Putnam County covers 230 square miles and counts 98,409 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Caswell County, NC and Refugio County, TX 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 New York

Every county in New York is on this site, including Yates County, NY and Richmond County, NY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.