Washington County, VT Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Washington County, VT's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 0.94% across 98% of the county's surveyed land. Among the 3,144 counties on this site, that's the clean result: little shrink-swell movement, standard construction the likely outcome.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Washington County, VT 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, VT 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.

Where this sits nationally

Nationally, Washington County, VT is the 2,920-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Vermont alone it ranks 9 of 14. The county spans 687 square miles, home to 59,844 people.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Saguache County, CO and Erath County, TX 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 Vermont

Every county in Vermont is on this site, including Grand Isle County, VT and Essex County, VT. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.