After the horrific fires that ravaged thousands of hillsides in the Greater Los Angeles area, we started to hear from many of our clients who were concerned about mud, rocks, and debris, flowing down from hillsides into their homes and businesses after rains. The typical questions we get from our clients are: what can I do to stabilize my hillside? How can I control erosion on my property?
The good news is that answers to such questions are not as complicated as one might think! If these are questions that have crossed your mind, this article is for you and will provide you with the answers you seek!
What are the causes of hillside soil erosion?
There are quite a few causes for hillside soil erosion, but chief among them are the wildfires that we have had here in the greater Los Angeles area for so many years. These wildfires have destroyed the vegetation that historically had stabilized our ground soil and slowed down the water runoff. The ash and oils from fires destroy the ground’s ability to absorb water and pretty quickly the soil begins to repel water, causing it to flow downhill, picking up rocks and debris along the way. What also doesn’t help things is that our city’s unique soil geology actually makes our hillsides more prone to slope failure, especially when it rains.
What happens when soil becomes unstable on a slope?
That is an excellent question, and really our focus here! When new rainfall hits our bare hill slopes, they just turn into a river of mud, rocks, and debris, that flows downhill in a torrent, taking everything with it! In other words, when soil becomes unstable on a hillside or a slope, essentially what happens is a mudslide, which is a sudden movement of soil, rocks, and other debris, coming downslope and into homes and businesses. As you can imagine, such mudslides pose significant risks to both human lives, property, and city infrastructure.
For example, on January 2018, 23 people perished and many homes were destroyed when a river of mud, rock, and debris, flowed down Montecito in an area which burned less than a month earlier in the Thomas Fire! Don’t let this happen to you, your loved ones, and your property: you must act now to prevent and stabilize your hillsides and slopes!
How do you know if a slope is unstable?
If you are wondering how you can tell whether or not the hillsides around your home are destabilized and unstable, you should begin by asking yourself the following questions as a sort of a checklist:
- Have the hills and slopes around your home been burned by wildfire?
- In recent rainstorms, did you see water run-off that had moved any soil?
- Have you seen any mud or wet soil around your property?
- Have you seen puddles forming around your property?
- Have you ever experienced a water intrusion into your basement or crawlspace?
If you answered “Yes” to any of the questions above, your property is likely to be in the cross-hairs of soil erosion that can damage your home! But here’s the catch, even if you answered “No” to the above questions, you can’t rely that to inform your decision-making going forward! What you’ve seen in the past, is not always a good indicator of what will happen in the future, as all bets are off with water and debris flows! Even if you didn’t experience it in the past, it can happen to you tomorrow. The best thing you can do is not underestimating your risk and calling qualified slope stabilization professionals such as the ones at Weinstein Construction to help you in assessing such risks!
How do you fix eroding hillside?
In this article you will find potential solutions that, if you employ in a timely manner, can save you many thousands of dollars in home repair bills! There are a variety of different erosion control methods and solutions that can be used, and some of the more cost-effective ones are discussed below. As an extra-added benefit, such solutions also provide your home with excellent “curbside appeal” that all homeowners seek and enjoy!
So, what is the best way to stabilize a slope? If you live on a hillside, your home must have a form of erosion control construction. If you live in a hillside home in an area that was subjected to a wildfire, one innovative solution has emerged with successful results: hillside protection with durable plastic wrapping. If you know your home is in a dangerous area and need help today, this temporary solution provides an excellent water deflecting barrier that is designed to shield the earth from the erosive power of the elements, and will provide you with extra time to plan for future erosion control.
Importantly, because gravity forces water to move downward, it is important to control where and how water is draining down your hillside, as well as to control the speed of such drainage. You can control drainage speed through using erosion control mulch and using curb inlet protection, which uses filters designed to be placed in front of a curb inlet or opening to prevent the migration of silt into the storm drain system. Moreover, the construction of swales/grading can create an effective drainage solution that can be very protective for hillside homes. Such construction methods use the natural flow of gravity to reshape and resurface your lawn or landscape to ensure that water is draining properly.
Additionally, laying down erosion control matting, erosion control mesh, or erosion control rolls, can help control the speed of run-off water down the slope of your property. Adding decorative rock basket gabions as retaining walls can provide even additional protection, as well as add a beautiful aesthetic value to your property. One favorite and effective method of preventing hillsides from collapsing is using an erosion control blanket, which is intended to help with sediment control. An erosion control blanket is a protective cover that shields the soil from erosion and helps keep it in place, preventing it from shifting. The photograph below shows how such a blanket is deployed on a typical hillside slope.
who can help me stabilize my hillside?
Why take a chance on your home suffering catastrophic structural damage from soil erosion? The hillside stabilization professionals at Weinstein Construction can prevent such disastrous incidents from happening by using a variety of cost-effective techniques, including building gabions and gabion baskets, concrete and granite walls, caissons and grade beams, and concrete retaining walls. If your property is suffering from any kind of erosion, we will have the right solution for you. Call us today at (877)-958-8741 for a free, no-obligation consultation to discuss cost-effective solutions to your soil erosion control needs!
