Richmond County, GA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Richmond County, GA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Richmond County, GA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.68% across 93.9% 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 Richmond County, GA at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Richmond County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Richmond County, GA 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, Richmond County, GA is the 2,300-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Georgia alone it ranks 47 of 159. Richmond County covers 324 square miles and counts 206,303 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Marshall County, IL and Coffee County, AL 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 Georgia

Every county in Georgia is on this site, including Laurens County, GA and Macon County, GA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.