Tompkins County, NY Shrink-Swell Risk

Tompkins County, NY's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Tompkins County, NY: USDA's soil survey rates 92.1% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.5% linear extensibility). That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

What Tompkins County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Tompkins County can carry different soil, even though they share one countywide reading. The real answer for one lot is still a site-specific geotechnical report, running about $1,000-$5,000 (typically near $2,700).

What it costs to find out, versus to ignore it

With Tompkins 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.

Tompkins County's rank among New York counties

Nationally, Tompkins County, NY is the 2,498-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New York alone it ranks 25 of 62. The county spans 475 square miles, home to 105,602 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Hidalgo County, TX and Suwannee County, FL 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 Washington County, NY and Orleans County, NY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.