Tuscaloosa County, AL Shrink-Swell Risk

Tuscaloosa County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Low

In Tuscaloosa County, AL, 91.3% of the surveyed soil carries a "Low" shrink-swell rating, 1.49% linear extensibility on average. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

Before you rely on this for one address

Tuscaloosa County's reading is an average across the whole county, not a promise about any one lot inside it. 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 Tuscaloosa County.

Budgeting for Tuscaloosa County, AL

Tuscaloosa County's soil reading points toward standard foundation practice as the likely outcome, not the exception. 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

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Tuscaloosa County, AL ranks 2,511 most-constrained nationally, and 50 of 67 within Alabama. The county spans 1,321 square miles, home to 241,212 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Newberry County, SC and Marshall County, KY 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

Elsewhere in Alabama

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