Wabasha County, MN Shrink-Swell Risk

What Wabasha County, MN's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Wabasha County, MN's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.32% across 81.7% of the county's surveyed land. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Wabasha County, MN 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 Wabasha County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Wabasha County, MN 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 Wabasha County, MN compares

Nationally, Wabasha County, MN is the 1,709-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Minnesota alone it ranks 55 of 87. Wabasha County covers 523 square miles and counts 21,574 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Union County, IN and Floyd County, VA 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 Minnesota

Every county in Minnesota is on this site, including Renville County, MN and Beltrami County, MN. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.