Service Areas

Louisiana splits roughly into two kinds of land. About 12,350 square miles is alluvial ground: swamps, coastal marsh, beaches and barrier islands built from Mississippi River sediment. More than 25,000 square miles is higher hill country in the north and northwest, a mix of prairie and woodland. Between them runs a belt of older Pleistocene terraces. Elevations go from about 10 feet near the coast to 50 or 60 feet on the prairies and alluvial lands, and the high point, Driskill Mountain, is only 535 feet. Here is what those differences mean for a barndominium.

North Louisiana hills (Shreveport, Bossier City, Monroe, Ruston)

The Red and Ouachita rivers drain this upland. Winter highs average around 59 degrees and lows around 37, cooler than the south, and the state's record low of 16 below zero was set at Minden. Northern parishes such as Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne and Webster ranked among the least vulnerable to expansive soils in the 2021 risk study, although the same paper notes montmorillonite clay as a swelling issue in the north. Lots here are more often on high ground, and slab-on-grade barndos are common.

Central Louisiana pine country (Alexandria, Natchitoches, DeRidder)

Kisatchie National Forest covers more than 600,000 acres of central and northern Louisiana, with longleaf pine and flatwoods. Over half of the state is forested, so clearing, stump removal and driveway access often show up early in the budget for wooded parcels.

Florida Parishes (Baton Rouge suburbs, Denham Springs, Hammond, Covington, Slidell)

North and east of the Mississippi, this is where many families buy acreage outside the city. It is also where flood rules get strict: Livingston Parish cities publish a 123 mph design wind speed, and St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes were part of the 2005 Formosan termite quarantine. Freeboard is set parish by parish, and Ascension Parish requires 2 feet above base flood elevation.

Acadiana and the southwest prairies (Lafayette, New Iberia, Lake Charles, Sulphur)

Flat, open farmland with rice and cattle country to the west. The expansive soil study found some of the state's highest swelling potential in the far southwest, with Cameron Parish among the most vulnerable, and Calcasieu and Cameron were both in the Formosan termite quarantine. Wind design and flood elevation both tighten as you move toward the Gulf.

Bayou and coastal parishes (Houma, Thibodaux, Abbeville)

The lowest, wettest building ground in the state. Louisiana lost about 1,800 square miles of land between 1932 and 2010, and Lafourche is among the parishes with the highest projected soil swelling. Here elevated barndominiums on piers or pilings are often the practical choice, and some communities restrict fill or forbid it under elevated buildings in V zones.

Wherever your land is, we start with the parish flood map, the sewage ordinance and the soil on your lot.