Windham County, VT Shrink-Swell Risk

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

Low

USDA's SSURGO data puts Windham County, VT's soil at "Low" shrink-swell potential, an area-weighted linear extensibility of 1.13% across 100% of the county's surveyed land. That's the easiest starting point on this site's scale - a standard foundation is the reasonable default here, though any one lot can still differ.

This is a county figure, not a lot figure

USDA's survey covers the whole of Windham 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 Windham County.

Report cost vs. repair cost

With Windham 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.

Windham County's rank among Vermont counties

Nationally, Windham County, VT is the 2,818-most-constrained of 3,085 rated counties for shrink-swell soil. Within Vermont alone it ranks 7 of 14. The county spans 786 square miles, home to 45,627 people.

For contrast

Orleans Parish, LA carries this site's most-constrained reading. Walworth County, SD and Saguache 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 Vermont

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