BasementSoil

West Virginia: basement moisture and foundation risk by county

55 counties, ranked by our combined index. Highest combined risk is Clay County (49), lowest is Grant County (30). The worst soil for foundation cracks specifically is in Morgan County.

Where in West Virginia the ground is worse

Every county in the state, coloured by the soil values below. Click a county to open its report; switch what the colour means with the buttons. The pattern is geology, not administration — risk stops at the edge of a physiographic region, not at a county line.

Barbour County, WV — combined 33/100, moisture 34, movement 34, water table 30Berkeley County, WV — combined 33/100, moisture 34, movement 33, water table 30Boone County, WV — combined 41/100, moisture 34, movement 48, water table 46Braxton County, WV — combined 36/100, moisture 35, movement 29, water table 46Brooke County, WV — combined 35/100, moisture 34, movement 30, water table 46Cabell County, WV — combined 36/100, moisture 34, movement 31, water table 46Calhoun County, WV — combined 47/100, moisture 37, movement 48, water table 66Clay County, WV — combined 49/100, moisture 37, movement 53, water table 66Doddridge County, WV — combined 37/100, moisture 33, movement 35, water table 46Fayette County, WV — combined 40/100, moisture 34, movement 43, water table 46Gilmer County, WV — combined 32/100, moisture 36, movement 29, water table 30Grant County, WV — combined 30/100, moisture 34, movement 36, water table 16Greenbrier County, WV — combined 34/100, moisture 35, movement 35, water table 30Hampshire County, WV — combined 41/100, moisture 34, movement 48, water table 46Hancock County, WV — combined 31/100, moisture 34, movement 39, water table 16Hardy County, WV — combined 37/100, moisture 34, movement 35, water table 46Harrison County, WV — combined 33/100, moisture 34, movement 34, water table 30Jackson County, WV — combined 33/100, moisture 34, movement 33, water table 30Jefferson County, WV — combined 38/100, moisture 35, movement 47, water table 30Kanawha County, WV — combined 34/100, moisture 36, movement 35, water table 30Lewis County, WV — combined 39/100, moisture 38, movement 47, water table 30Lincoln County, WV — combined 38/100, moisture 34, movement 48, water table 30Logan County, WV — combined 40/100, moisture 37, movement 51, water table 30Marion County, WV — combined 49/100, moisture 38, movement 52, water table 66Marshall County, WV — combined 42/100, moisture 37, movement 45, water table 46Mason County, WV — combined 37/100, moisture 34, movement 36, water table 46McDowell County, WV — combined 38/100, moisture 37, movement 44, water table 30Mercer County, WV — combined 35/100, moisture 34, movement 41, water table 30Mineral County, WV — combined 33/100, moisture 36, movement 31, water table 30Mingo County, WV — combined 37/100, moisture 36, movement 52, water table 16Monongalia County, WV — combined 37/100, moisture 37, movement 43, water table 30Monroe County, WV — combined 39/100, moisture 36, movement 39, water table 46Morgan County, WV — combined 40/100, moisture 35, movement 54, water table 30Nicholas County, WV — combined 36/100, moisture 36, movement 29, water table 46Ohio County, WV — combined 30/100, moisture 33, movement 37, water table 16Pendleton County, WV — combined 37/100, moisture 37, movement 31, water table 46Pleasants County, WV — combined 42/100, moisture 37, movement 46, water table 46Pocahontas County, WV — combined 35/100, moisture 35, movement 28, water table 46Preston County, WV — combined 40/100, moisture 38, movement 39, water table 46Putnam County, WV — combined 40/100, moisture 37, movement 39, water table 46Raleigh County, WV — combined 36/100, moisture 34, movement 43, water table 30Randolph County, WV — combined 38/100, moisture 35, movement 49, water table 30Ritchie County, WV — combined 41/100, moisture 37, movement 28, water table 66Roane County, WV — combined 47/100, moisture 37, movement 48, water table 66Summers County, WV — combined 43/100, moisture 37, movement 49, water table 46Taylor County, WV — combined 37/100, moisture 34, movement 45, water table 30Tucker County, WV — combined 37/100, moisture 34, movement 46, water table 30Tyler County, WV — combined 39/100, moisture 36, movement 39, water table 46Upshur County, WV — combined 32/100, moisture 34, movement 42, water table 16Wayne County, WV — combined 33/100, moisture 37, movement 28, water table 30Webster County, WV — combined 39/100, moisture 36, movement 39, water table 46Wetzel County, WV — combined 41/100, moisture 34, movement 47, water table 46Wirt County, WV — combined 41/100, moisture 35, movement 46, water table 46Wood County, WV — combined 39/100, moisture 36, movement 49, water table 30Wyoming County, WV — combined 39/100, moisture 34, movement 53, water table 30
  • Low (0–27)
  • Moderate (28–49)
  • Elevated (50–74)
  • High (75–100)

County boundaries: US Census TIGER (public domain), simplified for display. Colours are our index from USDA SSURGO fields where loaded, otherwise from our regional model — each county page states which. How the index is calculated.

CountyIndexMoistureCracksWater tableRegion
Clay County49375366Appalachian Plateau
Marion County49385266Appalachian Plateau
Calhoun County47374866Appalachian Plateau
Roane County47374866Appalachian Plateau
Summers County43374946Appalachian Plateau
Marshall County42374546Appalachian Plateau
Pleasants County42374646Appalachian Plateau
Boone County41344846Appalachian Plateau
Hampshire County41344846Ridge and Valley
Ritchie County41372866Appalachian Plateau
Wetzel County41344746Appalachian Plateau
Wirt County41354646Appalachian Plateau
Fayette County40344346Appalachian Plateau
Logan County40375130Appalachian Plateau
Morgan County40355430Ridge and Valley
Preston County40383946Appalachian Plateau
Putnam County40373946Appalachian Plateau
Lewis County39384730Appalachian Plateau
Monroe County39363946Appalachian Plateau
Tyler County39363946Appalachian Plateau
Webster County39363946Appalachian Plateau
Wood County39364930Appalachian Plateau
Wyoming County39345330Appalachian Plateau
Jefferson County38354730Ridge and Valley
Lincoln County38344830Appalachian Plateau
McDowell County38374430Appalachian Plateau
Randolph County38354930Appalachian Plateau
Doddridge County37333546Appalachian Plateau
Hardy County37343546Appalachian Plateau
Mason County37343646Appalachian Plateau
Mingo County37365216Appalachian Plateau
Monongalia County37374330Appalachian Plateau
Pendleton County37373146Appalachian Plateau
Taylor County37344530Appalachian Plateau
Tucker County37344630Appalachian Plateau
Braxton County36352946Appalachian Plateau
Cabell County36343146Appalachian Plateau
Nicholas County36362946Appalachian Plateau
Raleigh County36344330Appalachian Plateau
Brooke County35343046Appalachian Plateau
Mercer County35344130Appalachian Plateau
Pocahontas County35352846Appalachian Plateau
Greenbrier County34353530Appalachian Plateau
Kanawha County34363530Appalachian Plateau
Barbour County33343430Appalachian Plateau
Berkeley County33343330Ridge and Valley
Harrison County33343430Appalachian Plateau
Jackson County33343330Appalachian Plateau
Mineral County33363130Appalachian Plateau
Wayne County33372830Appalachian Plateau
Gilmer County32362930Appalachian Plateau
Upshur County32344216Appalachian Plateau
Hancock County31343916Appalachian Plateau
Grant County30343616Appalachian Plateau
Ohio County30333716Appalachian Plateau

Values from USDA NRCS SSURGO where available, otherwise our regional model — each county page states which. Methodology.

The physiographic regions inside West Virginia

State lines are political; soil follows geology. These are the distinct ground types inside West Virginia and why each behaves the way it does.

Appalachian Plateau

Water travels over bedrock under a thin skin of colluvium. A house cut into a hillside has an entire catchment behind its uphill wall — what decides the outcome here is a daylight drain, not a coating.

51 counties: Barbour County, Boone County, Braxton County, Brooke County, Cabell County, Calhoun County, Clay County, Doddridge County, Fayette County, Gilmer County, Grant County, Greenbrier County, Hancock County, Hardy County, Harrison County, Jackson County, Kanawha County, Lewis County, Lincoln County, Logan County, Marion County, Marshall County, Mason County, McDowell County, Mercer County, Mineral County, Mingo County, Monongalia County, Monroe County, Nicholas County, Ohio County, Pendleton County, Pleasants County, Pocahontas County, Preston County, Putnam County, Raleigh County, Randolph County, Ritchie County, Roane County, Summers County, Taylor County, Tucker County, Tyler County, Upshur County, Wayne County, Webster County, Wetzel County, Wirt County, Wood County, Wyoming County

Ridge and Valley

Limestone valleys mean karst: permeability is excellent until it is not. Sinkhole activity is an underrated cause of foundation failure here.

4 counties: Berkeley County, Hampshire County, Jefferson County, Morgan County

Page data updated