Whitman County, WA Shrink-Swell Risk

What Whitman County, WA's soil means for a foundation

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Whitman County, WA's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 2.06% across 93.2% 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 Whitman County, WA at once, not any single address. A local geotechnical report, typically $1,000-$5,000 (around $2,700 typical), is the only way to know what one lot in Whitman County will actually do.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Whitman County, WA 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 Whitman County, WA compares

Nationally, Whitman County, WA is the 1,931-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Washington alone it ranks 13 of 39. Whitman County, WA is 2,159 square miles with a population of 48,399.

Before you act on this

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Moffat County, CO and Liberty 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 Washington

Every county in Washington is on this site, including Lincoln County, WA and Kitsap County, WA. The full underlying dataset is downloadable directly, one row per county.