Retaining Walls and a Hillside Foundation

The hillside is part of the house

Cyndi Lamperts is a REALTOR® with Mountain Top Producers Realty in Running Springs (DRE #02187485). License lookup: DRE license lookup. On a mountain property she likes to begin outside. The road, the slope, the trees, the drainage, the retaining walls, the roof, and the decks all tell you something about the life that comes with the house. The inside can win your heart. The outside tells you what ownership may ask.

Mountain homes live with drainage, moisture, retaining walls, foundations, and the way the house sits on the slope. An older cabin can also carry years of additions from different owners. None of that makes a house unwelcome. It means the fireplace and the view get to share the afternoon with a few quieter questions.

Cyndi’s mom looks around before she goes inside. The trees and the hillside are part of why people want to live here, and they are part of what you will be caring for. In a town you already love, the individual home still deserves a look at drainage and the condition of an older house.

The rest of that first walk stays on looking at a mountain property. Driveway grade, parking, and where snow can go stay on driveways and parking. An older cabin’s systems, before the new finishes, stay on older mountain cabins.

1. 1

   Walk the slope before the front door

   Look at the road, the slope, the trees, the drainage, the walls, the roof, and the decks. Ask how you will use the house, including in winter. The showing walk: looking at a mountain property. Cyndi Lamperts, DRE #02187485: DRE license lookup.

2. 2

   Notice what the wall is doing

   Understand why the wall is there. Leaning, cracking, movement, or a drainage question is a welcome reason for a qualified look. Outdoor care after you own it: mountain home maintenance.

3. 3

   Follow the water uphill and downhill

   Roof, gutters where they exist, driveway, foundation, then downhill. A dry visit is one afternoon. Rain and snowmelt tell more. Driveways: driveways and parking.

4. 4

   Let a qualified person read the foundation

   An unfamiliar foundation can still be appropriate, and a long-standing one can still deserve a look. The general inspection: mountain home inspections.

5. 5

   Ask which office holds the records

   County permits for an unincorporated parcel: county permits. The City of Big Bear Lake uses its own department inside the city: City of Big Bear Lake. A vacant lot: buying land in the mountains.

Where the water wants to go

One of Cyndi’s favorite showing questions is where the water goes. Look uphill. Look at the roof and the gutters where the house has them. Look at the driveway. Look around the foundation. Then look downhill. Water follows gravity, and a mountain lot gives gravity a long path. A house built into a slope lives with water differently than a house on a flat lot.

She is looking at slopes, drainage paths, retaining areas, and whether water appears to travel toward the house or away from it. Erosion, staining, standing water, or a place that seems to stay wet can join that picture. A dry afternoon is one lovely visit. Rain and snowmelt tell more of the story. Cyndi’s mom learned to watch what happens in a heavy rain and when snow is melting, including below a driveway and around the places water already travels.

What sits above the house can matter too. Slopes, neighboring lots, trees, and the path snowmelt might take are worth a calm look. Water and gravity are happy to cross a property line. The downhill side shows how the home sits: foundations, decks, retaining structures, drainage outlets, and a way to reach them later for care. Some houses look like one story from the road and several stories from below. Walk around when it feels safe.

Winter on that slope is worth seeing property by property. Shade, the way the road sits, and the driveway all change where snow stays and where meltwater runs. Cyndi leaves the winter comparison for you to feel on the house itself. That wider town conversation is on Lake Arrowhead vs Big Bear. Questions a pretty afternoon can hide are on questions mountain buyers don't know to ask.

Records, a new wall, and a vacant lot

Older mountain homes often gather projects over the years. A deck, a room, a stair, or a retaining structure may have arrived long after the first cabin. Available permits and disclosures help you understand what was approved. A wall that has been there a long time can still have a record worth reading.

On an unincorporated San Bernardino County parcel, the county’s permit list includes retaining walls over 4 feet in height, measured from the bottom of the footing, and any retaining wall supporting a surcharge. Other work can belong on that list too, so the county is the kind place to ask before anyone changes a slope or adds a wall. Permits: county permits. EZ Online Permitting: county EZOP. Land Use Services questions: county land use questions.

A Big Bear mailing address is a start. The parcel tells you whether the City of Big Bear Lake or the county is the office to call. The city site is City of Big Bear Lake. Trees near the house stay with a tree professional when they look dead, damaged, or concerning, and current vegetation guidance stays with CAL FIRE (CAL FIRE).

If the search is land, picture an illustrative lot that looks simple and still asks for grading, retaining structures, or a difficult foundation. This is an example, so you can see why usable building area, slopes, and drainage matter. It stands in as an illustration. The land guide keeps that story in its place at buying land in the mountains. For a build, the people who may belong include a surveyor, a civil engineer, a geotechnical engineer, and a contractor who knows mountain work. Agency approval stays with the agency.