Los Angeles excavation
A new retaining wall starts with a cut: the slope behind it is dug back to make room for the footing, the wall and its drainage. We set the back-cut from the wall designer's plans and dig in sections where needed, so the temporary cut stays stable until the wall goes in.
A retaining wall on a Los Angeles hillside lot starts with a hole in the slope it will hold up. The wall designer’s plans show the footing depth and width, any key below the footing, and how far behind the wall the drainage and backfill zone extends. That last dimension sets the back-cut: we dig far enough into the hill to leave working room for forms, drain pipe and gravel, then cut the footing trench at the bottom to the drawn size. Whether the machine works from the top of the slope or the toe depends on where it can safely stand and where the soil can be loaded out.
The back-cut is the riskiest stage of the job, because the slope is steepest and least supported until the wall is built and backfilled. The plans or soils report may limit how steep that temporary cut can stand, how long it can stay open, or require it to be dug in short alternating sections so the hill is never unsupported along its full length. We follow that sequence as drawn. Anyone working at the base of a cut 5 feet or deeper needs cave-in protection, and a cut left through a storm is covered in plastic with runoff directed away from its face. Structures at the top of the slope, including a neighbor’s patio or fence, are part of what the sequence protects.
In the City of Los Angeles, an excavation that creates a cut slope more than 5 feet high and steeper than 1:2 is not exempt from a grading permit, and neither is one that removes more than 50 cubic yards. A wall permit covers the wall itself; the digging behind it can bring in grading rules as well, and on designated hillside lots our hillside grading page explains what else applies. We confirm what the job needs before scheduling.
Soil dug from behind a wall usually cannot go back as the wall’s backfill, because many designs call for free-draining gravel in that zone. So material leaves and drain rock arrives, often up a steep driveway. On the narrow, winding streets of Mount Washington, that can mean small trucks, a compact machine and a lot of short loads. If the wall is part of clearing a slope, see site clearing and rough grading; drain lines that run to the street are covered under trenching.
What sets the schedule? The height and length of the wall, how much slope has to come back, and access for the backfill.
These often come up on the same lot, and can be planned from the same site visit:
Cuts, benches and building pads on sloped LA lots, planned around grading permits, soils reports and haul routes.
What it involves →Footing trenches and foundation excavation for new homes, additions, walls and decks, dug to the engineer's plans.
What it involves →Clearing brush, roots and debris and rough grading the lot so water drains away from where you'll build.
What it involves →Site visit request
Tell us the address, what you're building and any plans you have. We'll call back to set up a site visit.
We'll call to set up a site visit. To talk sooner, call (213) 319-3620
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