Union County, NC Shrink-Swell Risk

Union County, NC's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Union County, NC: USDA's soil survey rates 66.1% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (2.74% linear extensibility). That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

What Union County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Union 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 Union County, NC 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 Union County, NC compares

Nationally, Union County, NC is the 1,380-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within North Carolina alone it ranks 13 of 100. Union County covers 633 square miles and counts 263,386 residents.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Leake County, MS and Union 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

More of North Carolina

Every county in North Carolina is on this site, including Buncombe County, NC and Surry County, NC. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.