Somerset County, ME Shrink-Swell Risk

What Somerset County, ME's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Somerset County, ME's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1% across 98.9% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Somerset County, ME at once, not any single address. 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 Somerset County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Somerset County, ME 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.

Somerset County's rank among Maine counties

Nationally, Somerset County, ME is the 2,895-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Maine alone it ranks 11 of 16. The county spans 3,924 square miles, home to 51,338 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Butte County, CA and Jefferson County, PA 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 Maine

Every county in Maine is on this site, including Lincoln County, ME and Sagadahoc County, ME. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.