Wetzel County, WV Shrink-Swell Risk

Wetzel County, WV's soil, for shrink-swell risk

Moderate

Wetzel County, WV: USDA's soil survey rates 73.8% of the county "Moderate" for shrink-swell potential (3.18% linear extensibility). Conventional foundations are the reasonable expectation here, with routine moisture-control practice rather than special engineering.

What Wetzel County's reading doesn't cover

Two lots a mile apart in Wetzel 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

With Wetzel County, WV rating "Moderate", 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.

Wetzel County's rank among West Virginia counties

Nationally, Wetzel County, WV is the 1,065-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within West Virginia alone it ranks 13 of 55. The county spans 358 square miles, home to 13,766 people.

See how another county compares

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Buncombe County, NC and Elbert County, CO 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 West Virginia

Every county in West Virginia is on this site, including Webster County, WV and Pocahontas County, WV. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.