Georgia / Effingham County
Score 62 · high · #4 of 59 in GA
Crawl space moisture in Effingham County, GA
73% of Effingham County's mapped soil is somewhat poorly to very poorly drained, which means ground that stays wet near the surface for significant periods. Where a seasonal water table is reported — 99% of acres — it averages 1.3 ft below grade, shallow enough to reach a typical crawl-space footing.
- 1Water table 1.3 ft
- 2Wet soils 73%
- 3Moisture score 62
- 4EPA radon zone 3
Reading the Effingham County soil survey
The score of 62 combines four parts, each from the USDA survey: wet drainage classes contribute 70.6 points of 100 on their own scale, group D soils 44, a shallow water table 78.9, and flooding 29.7; the weights are on the methodology page. The dominant hydrologic group is C/D (37% of acres): D when undrained, C when drained.
A water table under two feet is the single most important number here. A crawl-space floor is usually 18 to 36 inches below the joists and often below outside grade, so in a wet season groundwater can stand at or above the crawl-space floor across much of Effingham County. Venting cannot fix that; it needs drainage — a perimeter drain to daylight or a sump — before any liner goes down.
Effingham County against the rest of Georgia
Effingham County ranks 4 of 59 Georgia counties, 47 points above the state median of 15. That puts it in the wettest quarter of the state. Statewide, 25% of mapped soil is in the wet drainage classes; here it is 73%, half again the state figure or more. After poorly drained, the next most common class is very poorly drained at 24%.
Flooding. 27.6% of acres with a flooding class are rated frequent. That is a large flood-prone share; a crawl space in the floodplain needs flood vents under most local floodplain ordinances, which is a separate rule from R408 and can rule out a fully sealed design. Ponding — water standing at the surface with nowhere to go — affects 4.3% of acres.
What it means for a crawl space here
In a high county, the model-code default of a vented crawl space over bare earth works against the soil: outside air brings humidity in all summer, and the ground underneath keeps supplying moisture from below. The R408 alternative — an unvented crawl space with a sealed vapor retarder lapped 6 inches and turned 6 inches up the stem wall, plus conditioned or exhaust air at 1 cfm per 50 sq ft or a dehumidifier — is built for exactly this. If the water table is shallow, drainage comes first.
Radon. EPA radon zone 3. The zone is a county-level prediction; EPA says elevated levels occur in every zone and every home should be tested.
Near Effingham County by score
Sources: USDA NRCS SSURGO via Soil Data Access (muaggatt: drclassdcd, hydgrpdcd, flodfreqdcd, pondfreqprs, wtdepannmin), acreage-weighted (survey area GA103; drainage covers 99% of 308,500 mapped acres); EPA Map of Radon Zones, county table (June 2024 JSON); IRC R408.3 Unvented crawl space, as adopted in S.C. Code Regs. 8-1221 (LII). Checked 2026-10-23.