Washington County, ME Shrink-Swell Risk

What Washington County, ME's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Washington County, ME's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.16% across 88.8% 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 Washington County, ME 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 Washington County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Washington County, ME 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 Washington County, ME compares

Nationally, Washington County, ME is the 2,792-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Maine alone it ranks 6 of 16. Washington County covers 2,563 square miles and counts 31,383 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Summit County, UT and Burke County, GA 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 Maine

Every county in Maine is on this site, including Penobscot County, ME and York County, ME. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.