Washington County, VA Shrink-Swell Risk

Washington County's SSURGO shrink-swell reading

Low

In Washington County, VA, 54.7% of the surveyed soil carries a "Low" shrink-swell rating, 2.62% linear extensibility on average. That's as favorable a county-level reading as this dataset produces - standard foundation practice, pending one lot's own geotechnical report.

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, VA

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, VA compares

Among the 3,085 rated counties on this site, Washington County, VA ranks 1,465 most-constrained nationally, and 31 of 114 within Virginia. Washington County, VA is 561 square miles with a population of 54,098.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Huntington County, IN and Howard County, NE 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 Virginia

Every county in Virginia is on this site, including Richmond city, VA and Greene County, VA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.