Ulster County, NY Shrink-Swell Risk

What Ulster County, NY's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Ulster County, NY's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.14% across 94.6% 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 Ulster County, NY 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 Ulster County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Ulster 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.

Ulster County's rank among New York counties

Nationally, Ulster County, NY is the 2,805-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New York alone it ranks 42 of 62. The county spans 1,124 square miles, home to 182,977 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Carroll County, IA and Camden County, NC 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 Livingston County, NY and Cattaraugus County, NY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.