Washington County, MD Shrink-Swell Risk

Washington County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Low

In Washington County, MD, 68.8% of the surveyed soil carries a "Low" shrink-swell rating, 2.43% linear extensibility on average. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

Before you rely on this for one address

Washington 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 Washington County.

Budgeting for Washington County, MD

Washington 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.

How Washington County, MD compares

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Washington County, MD ranks 1,610 most-constrained nationally, and 1 of 24 within Maryland. The county spans 458 square miles, home to 157,228 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Cass County, MN and Wood County, WV 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 Maryland

Every county in Maryland is on this site, including St. Mary's County, MD and Cecil County, MD. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.