Steele County, ND Shrink-Swell Risk

What Steele County, ND's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Steele County, ND's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.61% across 73.4% 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 Steele County, ND 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 Steele County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Steele County, ND 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 Steele County, ND compares

Nationally, Steele County, ND is the 1,474-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Dakota alone it ranks 43 of 53. The county spans 712 square miles, home to 1,767 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cass County, MN and Evangeline Parish, LA 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 North Dakota

Every county in North Dakota is on this site, including Mountrail County, ND and Burke County, ND. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.