Washington County, TX Shrink-Swell Risk
Washington County, TX's soil, for shrink-swell risk
High
Washington County, TX: USDA's soil survey rates 31% of the county "High" for shrink-swell potential (7.3% linear extensibility). This is enough movement to matter: a standard footing can hold up here, but usually only with real moisture management, not by default.
What Washington County's reading doesn't cover
Two lots a mile apart in Washington 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
Given Washington County's rating, spending a few thousand now is the way to avoid spending tens of thousands later. The report ($1,000-$5,000) is what tells you whether Washington County's county-level reading applies to your lot; the repair ($5,000-$15,000) is what it costs if you skip that and find out from the cracks instead.
How Washington County, TX compares
Nationally, Washington County, TX is the 70-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Texas alone it ranks 24 of 253. Washington County covers 604 square miles and counts 37,810 residents.
See how another county compares
Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Tallahatchie County, MS and Canyon County, ID are worth a look for comparison.
How this reading is built, and its real limits · The warning signs of expansive-clay damage, explained
More of Texas
Every county in Texas is on this site, including Hockley County, TX and Jasper County, TX. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.