Knowing the Central Coast underground as he does, Rich Casale recommends that homeowners planning to terrace their properties proceed with extreme caution. His advice is pertinent throughout the hilly ...

Retaining walls are the foundation of a beautiful and stable lakefront view. They can turn an eroding hill into a series of terraces, adding usable space to an otherwise wasted piece of cramped ...

Ground with a steep pitch or slope can become a problem area if it is often eroded by runoff water from heavy rains. One way to contain the erosion is by leveling the slope with a terrace, then ...

This is the last of three stories on terracing hillsides. To read the first two stories, "Slippery slopes" and "Know your hillside," go to sfgate.com and type in Deborah K. Rich. "Almost all ...

Winter is the season for holidays, football games, Dungeness crab and — rain! In Marin’s Mediterranean climate, 90 percent of the annual rainfall normally occurs between November and April. After our ...

Built to hold back the earth on sloping land, retaining walls are used to control erosion and create usable level terraces. These walls must be extra-strong to withstand the pressure of earth and ...

Los Angeles officials on Friday banned tall retaining walls that dot the city’s canyon communities from Woodland Hills to Mount Washington, with critics calling the massive bulkheads “the hillside ...

A proposed hillside home in Whittier will not be built unless the owner can show it doesn’t adversely affect a retaining wall above it that supports Honolulu Terrace, the Whittier City Council decided ...