Settlement and Slab Movement in Camillus, Fairmount and Westvale
There is no ground here that will simply not move, so the question is never the soil, it is whether water can reach it.
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What the soil ratings say about this ground
The Town of Camillus reports 11,481 housing units with a median year built of 1966, but only 6.1 percent built in 1939 or earlier and 9.2 percent before 1950, with 69.1 percent before 1980. Camillus village, inside the town, is far older: a median year built of 1958, 32.2 percent built in 1939 or earlier and 41.5 percent before 1950. The Fairmount census designated place in the same town is the opposite case, 5.0 percent pre-1940 but 85.9 percent pre-1980, and Westvale is 28.1 percent pre-1950 and 88.3 percent pre-1980.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B25034 year structure built and B25035 median year structure built, for county subdivisions and places of Onondaga County, New York, accessed 2026-09-08
New York State's Department of Transportation states that practically all surface soils of New York State undergo some frost action, that the soils of the state are frost-susceptible to varying degrees ranging from moderately frost-susceptible glacial tills and dirty sands and gravels to highly frost-susceptible fine sands, silts and rock flour, and that it is obvious practically all of New York State has frost-susceptible soils. It records that frost penetration ranges to a depth of 5 feet in some areas of the state, which is why replacing frost-susceptible soil to the full depth of frost is expensive. Its specification for non-frost-susceptible material is a clean sound sand and gravel with 30 to 65 percent passing the 1/4 inch sieve and absolutely not more than 10 percent passing the No. 200 sieve.
Source: New York State Department of Transportation, Geotechnical Design Manual, Chapter 7, Engineered Granular Mixes, accessed 2026-09-08
Weighting each soil map unit in the USDA SSURGO survey of Onondaga County by its acreage and by each component's share of that map unit, 26.9 percent of the county's mapped component acreage is rated High for potential frost action, 53.4 percent Moderate, 0.7 percent Low, and 19.1 percent carries no rating, the last group being water, urban land and unsurveyed areas. Among the acreage that does carry a rating, about a third is High and under 1 percent is Low. The largest High-rated soils by acreage are the Niagara, Collamer, Aurora, Appleton, Wayland, Carlisle, Kendaia, Williamson, Rhinebeck and Teel series, most of which are silt loams.
Source: US Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Data Access, SSURGO survey area NY067 Onondaga County, accessed 2026-09-08
Frost-susceptible ground, and the base that decides everything
New York's own highway engineers put it plainly: practically all surface soils in this state undergo some frost action, ranging from moderately susceptible glacial tills and dirty sands through to highly susceptible fine sands, silts and rock flour. So a slab that has moved in Camillus, Fairmount or Westvale did not find rare ground, it found water. What separates a base that drains from one that behaves like a sponge is measurable: the specification for non-frost-susceptible material is a clean sound sand and gravel with absolutely not more than 10 percent passing the No. 200 sieve.
What goes back under a Camillus slab
If the slab is coming up anyway, the base is the part of the job worth arguing about. A dusty, fine-graded fill holds water against the underside of the concrete and freezes with it. A clean, well graded sand and gravel lets the water leave. That single choice, plus getting the surface water away from the edges, does more for how long the repair lasts than the thickness of the concrete over the top of it ever will.
The fines are the tell
Not more than 10 percent passing the No. 200 sieve is the line between a drainage layer and a sponge. It is a specification you can ask for by name.
Fewer than one acre in a hundred here is rated Low
Across Onondaga County, 26.9 percent of mapped soil acreage is rated High for potential frost action and 53.4 percent Moderate, with only 0.7 percent Low. Assume the ground will move if water reaches it.
Three neighborhoods, one ground question
Camillus village is 32.2 percent pre-1940, the town only 6.1 percent, and Fairmount and Westvale are almost entirely 1940 to 1980. What is under the slab matters equally in all three.
Has it dropped, or has it lifted?
Both point at water, in different ways. Send the address and tell us which direction it moved.
Other work across Camillus, Fairmount and Westvale
Ground and settlement questions in the Camillus area
Is the ground in Fairmount especially bad for settlement?
It is ordinary for this county, and this county is not forgiving. Practically all New York surface soils are frost-susceptible to some degree, and across Onondaga County only 0.7 percent of mapped soil acreage rates Low for potential frost action against 26.9 percent High and 53.4 percent Moderate. The realistic position is to assume movement is possible anywhere here and to control the water instead.
What should the fill under a replacement Camillus slab actually be?
Clean, sound and coarse enough to drain. The state's specification for non-frost-susceptible material is a sand and gravel with 30 to 65 percent passing the quarter inch sieve and absolutely not more than 10 percent passing the No. 200 sieve. That upper limit is the one that matters, because the fine material is what holds water against the underside of your concrete.
Get the Camillus movement traced properly
Camillus village, Fairmount or Westvale: describe what has moved and where the water goes.