Seneca County, NY Shrink-Swell Risk

What Seneca County, NY's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Seneca County, NY's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.5% across 77% 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 Seneca County, NY 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 Seneca 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Seneca County, NY is the 1,564-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New York alone it ranks 4 of 62. The county spans 324 square miles, home to 32,650 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Logan County, OK and Sagadahoc County, ME 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 St. Lawrence County, NY and Chautauqua County, NY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.