Shelby County, AL Shrink-Swell Risk

Shelby County, AL's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Shelby County, AL: USDA's soil survey rates 84.8% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.06% linear extensibility). Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

What Shelby County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Shelby County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. A site-specific soil report, usually $1,000-$5,000, is what an engineer would actually pull before designing a foundation on a lot in Shelby County.

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Shelby County, AL 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.

How Shelby County, AL compares

Nationally, Shelby County, AL is the 1,926-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Alabama alone it ranks 26 of 67. Shelby County covers 785 square miles and counts 235,969 residents.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cowlitz County, WA and Page County, IA 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 Alabama

Every county in Alabama is on this site, including Butler County, AL and Monroe County, AL. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.