Wallowa County, OR Shrink-Swell Risk

Wallowa County, OR's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Low

Wallowa County, OR: USDA's soil survey rates 80.2% of the county "Low" for shrink-swell potential (1.94% 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 Wallowa County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Wallowa 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 Wallowa County, OR 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.

Wallowa County's rank among Oregon counties

Nationally, Wallowa County, OR is the 2,044-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Oregon alone it ranks 29 of 36. Wallowa County, OR is 3,146 square miles with a population of 7,522.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Franklin County, WA and Kit Carson County, CO 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 Oregon

Every county in Oregon is on this site, including Sherman County, OR and Benton County, OR. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.