Westchester County, NY Shrink-Swell Risk

What Westchester County, NY's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Westchester County, NY's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 0.63% across 100% 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 Westchester County, NY 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 Westchester County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Westchester County, NY 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.

Westchester County's rank among New York counties

Nationally, Westchester County, NY is the 3,030-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within New York alone it ranks 60 of 62. Westchester County covers 431 square miles and counts 1,006,447 residents.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Ohio County, IN and Hardin County, TN 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 New York

Every county in New York is on this site, including Broome County, NY and Dutchess County, NY. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.