Washington Parish, LA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Washington Parish, LA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Washington Parish, LA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.13% across 99.8% 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 Parish, LA 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 Parish.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Washington Parish, LA 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 Parish, LA compares

Nationally, Washington Parish, LA is the 2,819-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Louisiana alone it ranks 63 of 64. The county spans 670 square miles, home to 45,090 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Corson County, SD and Fairfax city, VA 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 Louisiana

Every county in Louisiana is on this site, including Vernon Parish, LA and Jackson Parish, LA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.