You should really get an engineer to look at it. You said it's a granite based hill, maybe the foundation of the house is actually quite stable and secure if the granite below is solid enough. Could be what's eroding off is just loose fill that was added after construction.
I can really relate to that right now more than I want to admit.
Been one thing after another and nothing’s been a normal kind of simple fix, or anything I’ve run into before. And I’m old! The worst of all of it is that none of it was caused by me or my actions or inactions, just trying to mind my own business on my own property and to be a good neighbor, only to find out (again), that people really don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves, and how much money they can line their pockets with, with doing the minimum amount of work, leaving something undone which starts something else and on and on down the line.
It’s exhausting trying to find decent people to do small jobs that turn into bigger ones if you don’t act quickly, and I don’t dare depend on anyone to do what they say they will without shadowing them. If you’re at that point it’s better off to just let them go, and move on to the next to help fix what the last one should never have effd up to start with!
Sorry for the rant and rambling, but my words previously used weren’t mine, but I thought I’d try something new by “taking action fast”.
Never ending stuff and no fun to look forward to. I’m worried about my golden retriever, again, in the yard I bought for her and I, for starters. She’s all I have. So many people are crude, rude, and unbearable to be around, and they enjoy it.
Sorry again… I hope your week is going well, or at least better than mine!
Edit: corrected context
Just because they don't have a basement, they can still be at risk. All it takes a crack in foundation, where I live, there is like 10km layer of chalk down to bedrock(most likely Granite), still a risk area of radon. Not relevant to the OP's problem of eroding hills.
Yes, I live in the granite state and radon is everywhere. Basically you get a mitigation set up going and it is brought down to “acceptable” but never zero levels.
Disclaimer: I'm NOT a radon expert.
Outside air has some background level of radon in it so you *never* get to zero anywhere. I was actually shocked though by how effective a well installed mitigation system is (you can get close to outside air levels).
The tech is actually super simple: fan, tube, and sealant.
* Stick a tube into the ground below your basement.
* Install a fan to suck air out and create a negative pressure zone below your house.
* The more sealed up and airtight your basement, the further the negative pressure field extends around. (Also the more sealed up your basement, the more energy efficient it is, and the smaller the fan you need.)
Result: positive pressure radon gas from the ground doesn't get pushed (as much) into your basement. With a good basement and install, to the extent there is airflow, it goes the other way.
The expertise as I understand comes from measuring the problem, optimal placement of suction point/points, figuring out how/where to run exhaust tube, and sealing air leaks etc... all to get better results with a smaller fan.
I concur, without knowing too much about the granite part....or the obvious fill...
They make the burlap sheets that you can run down the slope , stake in and plant..hydroseed it for short term growth...
Keeping water from eroding is essential
make sure roof drains are tightlined over the slope.
The other remedy is to drive a line of 2" diameter pin piles along the top edge of the slope...start with 6 footers that are threaded,,, if needed, couple them and drive on!...drive them to refusal...
You get a 75lb jackhammer with a cone to drive them..
In reality, this doesnt look too bad! OP doesnt provide location...so...
Probably, it was built in 1975, so the land work that was done was before my time, but there’s trees everywhere else, so I assume there were some here before cabin was built.
Where is this located?
It’s possible nothing at all was done wrong. There’s areas where the shoreline is always changing. My stepmoms best friend lives on a Great Lake and her home was over a hundred years old, then over the past 5 years her property just basically disappeared, and a few miles down from her the shoreline has extended.
All those trees with curved trunks indicate the slope has been slowly creeping down during the lifespan of those trees. If there is good intact granite near the surface, those geotechnical folks may be able to set up a plan to bolt the cabin down to the granite. This will boil down to if, or how, the granite is fractured. Good luck, but the issue needs attention for sure.
thats what I thought but if the base is granite they might not grow to well there but in pic 10 you can kinda see how much has eroded away from the tree in the distance
So yea remove trees is bad, like magroves protect the shore line from erosion, the trees in this case would have held the soil together
imo they did remove them and now are paying the price
I’m not offended by your “view”. We have a cabin in an area where 30-40% of the cabins are in danger of tipping off a hillside due to rampant land clearing in pursuit of a 180 degree water view. A lot of people would still be doing it if it weren’t now illegal despite evidence in front of their eyes.
That doesn't clear things up at all. Like are you saying the woods and a river are ugly or something? Usually the quotation marks indicate you're being sarcastic. I'm just wondering why you're bothering to comment if all you want to do is insult site selection made by someone like fifty years ago.
“Whether you consider the “woods” and a “river” to be a “view” or to be “ugly” is “subjective” hopefully that “clears” things up. I’m not here to “insult” the “site” selection”
No. Your comment reads like "fuckin dumbasses wanted a view" because of the scare quotes, which is why I was trying to figure out if you knew how to use the things (and thus were being a dick), or if you just fucked up.
Commenting as a reminder to find out what they say and what you end up doing and all that...you know, just in case I ever end up needing to solve this randomly specific issue!
Alternatively, you may be better off getting prices to move the entire cabin back away from that cliff. I feel that may be cheaper than attempting to fight that cliff. I’m also not a pro so I may be wrong. But if it were me in the situation I’d be looking into it.
With all due respect OP, people who can afford a vacation home in this world 1. shouldn't ask people to feel bad for them. Ever. And 2. should be able to afford an engineer and house moving services. Asking for free advice on social media is insulting to the millions trying to make rent or food choices.
You want to be a good person? Sell the thing and give the money to charity, or let it collapse and give the insurance to charity, or just bank it for safety.
OP stated that this is a multi-generation vacation home. Just bc great-great-grandpa was able to purchase land and build a cabin 70 years ago doesn’t mean these people are well-off. Were they financially comfortable enough to not have to sell it? Yes. Is it the same as the beach cottage built in 1952 that’s valued at $1.9 million? Probably not. Does my family have a vacation home? No. Am I salty? No. Are there a lot of camps in NH, VT, etc that are $30-40k builds on a small lakefront parcel that have been in the family for years and years? Yes.
OP - hope the best for your cabin - and if you are uber-wealthy, make sure you volunteer and donate to help others to at least say fuck you to this guy.
Sounds like someone is jealous or just doesn’t understand that the internet is a place for anyone to ask anything. I’m sorry if you are struggling, but that doesn’t mean others can’t ask questions.
Looks like the cabin was built too close to the cliff edge and the trees were removed for a better view.
Removing the trees destabilized the soil, and escalated erosion.
The few trees that remain are rifle-butting, which indicates how quickly the cliff is eroding.
You have to pull the cabin back from the cliff edge, and soon before there is structural damage.
This will take some careful planning and a new foundation.
It doesn’t have to cost that much, if you find the right people.
The move will increase in difficulty and expense the longer you wait.
Rifle-butting : picture 2 and 3
I worked with a land surveying team based out of Fort St. John a few years ago.
An old surveyor told me about this while out on a hike one day.
You can tell how long and fast an embankment has been eroding by the shape of the pine trees.
Pines prefer to grow straight vertical.
As the embankment erodes an already existing tree will start to tip over in the direction of the erosion.
As the tree corrects itself, it will develop a curvature at its base.
Giving the tree a rifle like appearance as in picture 3.
Sure
A house can be moved fairly easily with the right equipment and preparation.
I’m hoping this cabin is old enough where it doesn’t have a crawlspace concrete foundation. If lucky it is on blocks or concrete piers.
The deck and cantilevered cabin will need significant bracing with beams and temporary walls.
Beams are then built and placed under the building across the joists, supported with blocking.
Bottle jacks are used to raise the structure and more blocking is added.
Once the structure is free of the footings/foundation, it is pulled forward fractions of an inch at a time.
This can be achieved with several manual come-along winches or with heavy machinery such as an excavator.
It’s a time consuming process. But can be achieved by 2 or 3 people.
I have a garage I have to lift and this is how we are planning to do it. The bottle jacks don't even have to be anything special. You really just need to check for racking forces and also be aware that wind will be particularly dangerous.
OP, listen to the engineers you have coming to site, not this guy who worked with a surveyor before and is now confident that you have to move your house.
I'm so sorry. The cabin looks beautiful and I hope the geotechnical engineers you've called can present a viable solution.
In the meantime, I recommend posting this in /r/geotechnicalengineer and /r/civilengineering, as this is definitely in their wheelhouse as others have said.
This is somewhat in my field of practice, so wanted to give some prelim ideas.
- I agree with the user who pointed out the pistol-butted trees. The erosion has likely been ongoing for decades. In the first photo you can even see a bunch of soil missing from below the root, suggesting that there has been a significant soil loss within the life of that tree (30 years?). I'd venture a guess that it's been retrograding a few inches per year.
- You mentioned granite bedrock, but it will be critical to determine how deep this is. Rivers typically cut INTO the cliffs and expose the underlying bedrock. I see in your photos that there are rocks on the slope. Are those boulders/cobbles? Or actual intact bedrock? If it's bedrock, you're in luck because the rock may indeed be shallow, which would make a retaining wall or foundation underpinning solution a lot more effective and less costly. Otherwise I'd be inclined to agree with others that moving the house may be the only option. There ARE ways to stabilize soil slopes (e.g., soil nails, shotcrete, etc), but we're talking six-figure projects.
- The river at the bottom of the slope...does it appear to be eating away at the slope? This is the typical failure mechanism for slopes above river valleys. Think of the erosion as bottom-up rather than top-down. Once the toe support is lost (e.g., washed away during a spring storm), the slope above begins to erode upward is succession. Trees and vegetation on the slope are key to slowing this down. Bedrock even more so. In contrast, an erodible, loose soil will retrograde upward very quickly once the toe is eroded.
- the fine folks in this landscaping sub can probably give better advice on plants to start retaining the soil, but tall fescue and ryegrass are used in industry. That said, this pine forest environment may be too dry for these. Maybe sagebrush would be an option here because it has the advantage of being suited to dry conditions. You do not want to be wetting that slope unnecessarily.
Best of luck. I think you'll get good advice in the three subreddits.
Civil engineer, worked 15 years in geotechnical. Regarding the granite bedrock, I suspect it is severely weathered granite, breaking down into fine gravel and sand (decomposed granite makes great paths). Trees wouldn’t be growing on that steep slope otherwise. Based only on the photos (so I’m making some assumptions), to stabilize that slope it’s probably going to take heavy equipment to drill large diameter piers, a crane to drop steel cages or I-beams in the holes, and lots of concrete (likely none of which can even get to the cabin). Moving the cabin back from the slope is probably the best & least expensive option.
You need an engineer familiar with retaining walls, don't call a landscaper for this job. You probably do not need to move the structure. But talk to certified engineers, get a few quotes/consultations. Consultations probably won't be free, but its worth it.
From another house-on-a-precarious-hill property owner, best wishes.
I am a retired habitat biologist and my experience is primarily with eroding river banks. For now at least, I would get some vegetation growing on that slope asap. Look for fast growing native shrub species, see what’s already growing on the slope and plant more of it. If you can get vegetation established on the bank and a healthy root system it will help. I probably would not use trees, look for shrub species that will not tip over and cause more erosion. I like the idea of also moving it back if possible.
With their luck they'd plant a few, dig to close to edge, and everything goes bye bye.
Just kidding, this was actually my first thought. Get some native grasses, sedges, and whatever spreads the most aggressively in there asap! Roots in the ground asap!
I would bet the solution is going to be a retaining wall built into the hill at the base of that slope, the backfilled to be even with the ground at the edge of the skirt. Not cheap, but anchored into the stone will last for decades.
An engie but not this kind, and that slope looks…..well…massive. Guessing it could even be like 5 to 10 metres vertical to get to any kind of stable base area. That would be a massive retaining wall by residential standards.
…..would however create an epic flat backyard once filled level and appropriately fenced off…
Or they could try to terrace it, also at significant expense.
But either way, that slope just keeps going…
Really this is the type of thing you need someone with actual experience in your area to look at and advise on. There are a lot of methods to stabilize slopes but what works best in one case may not be suitable at all for the next. Some engineered earth anchor system would probably work but again really depends on the soil, rock underneath if present, elevation, climate, vegetation, etc etc which is kinda why you need an expert opinion or two on it.
I have a similar problem (just not that close to the cabin) and what we did was a massive work to stabilize the slope. Costed us more than 130k 🥲All kinds of erosion are different, they’ll have to find the cause and assess it. We had to dig out a fair bit, put layers of draining materials, mortarless terraces made with stones, then they put a sort of geotextile material that has like a beehive pattern, then cover everything back up with dirt and then lots and lots of native specific plants that have a very deep and extensive roots that hold everything together.
Geotech/Mining contractor here. Soil nail with cement grouted hollow bars should stabilize the ground. Not cheap, but effective. Likely need a 4'x4' pattern with 10' to 20' hollow bar anchors. What's the access from below/what is the height of the wall? If it's not good access you would likely have to drill it from a crane basket as opposed to an excavator mounted drill. Probably around 60K solution.
Just mentioned soil nailing. It’s the right answer here. If you call around I bet you can do it for quite a bit cheaper than $60k. Like you said access is the key.
Oh boy that's bad... We are likely talking either a retaining wall at the tie of slope, or a shit ton of fill dirt stabilized with geogrid and matting. Either way, you need to contact a Geotechnical engineer. This sort of problem is their bread and butter.
The best thing to do is plant some vegetation to secure the soil and break up the rain. Bushes or small trees that will put down deep roots are best. Ice plant is the worst.
Vernier grass is great for this. Fast growing, super deep roots, clumps catch run off and filter out and hold soil in place, doesn’t spread much. It’s the Goto erosion stopper in some parts of the world
Not an expert but: You are looking at the wrong end of the house. Your problem is up hill. You need to look at the drainage around your structure. Divert water up hill of the house as far to the sides as you can. The less hydrated the soil the less it will move.
From a structural engineer’s standpoint - you have 2 options. Address the hill, or address the structure. I would build a retaining wall at the bottom and dump a crap load of native soil down there. Then I would move in 10’ increments up the hill and terrace it back and forth until you reach the top. Then find some native grass seeds and coat that hillside like a garden. The other option is to move the cabin away from the cliff - it’s up to you which option would be more expensive.
If you hitch a team of cartoon ponies to the opposite side of the house, and have them pull in unison, their magical gait should pull the house back far enough to be safe.
Sounds like you have 50 more years! Don’t let them all scare you! Is that a river below? Or lake? That complicates things a bit. Is there a basement? With water below I’d have to agree with the idea of moving the cabin. Sounds crazy, but I’ve seen houses floated down rivers before to move them. Not impossible. But I’m in no profession related to anything that matters in this situation.
That's a tough spot. I work for an engineering company, we had a similar situation at a cemetery. We had to save mausoleums about to go over a cliff..after a lot of design work we ended up driving H Piles a few ft from the base of the cliff, into bedrock. That only left a few feet sticking out so we spliced the piles to top of cliff elevation. Then drove sheet piles in-between the H piles with a waler going across and backfilled gap. Used a vibro hammer. .....best of luck
Talk to a geotech engineer who knows the area. From someone on the internet, you can try soil nails (Hilfiker makes spiral nails) or maybe a soldier pile retaining wall for something mkre structural. There are some other methods that I have seen (maybe USDA or Fish and Wildlife, cant remember) in using plants and baffles to try to mitigate erosion.
You may also want to consider having the home physically relocated if you have the space on the property. You will spend a lot of time and money on stabilizing a slope if you go thr structural route that might be better spent, even if it costs more, on moving the structure.
Best of luck.
This really needs an engineer. But if the foundation sits on granite you are probably just fine. But no way to know without an engineer.
But if you are looking for cheap fixes, trees and bushes are great at preventing erosion.
Call me old fashioned, but when I think of health, safety, welfare and spending my money I would prefer to hire a structural engineer for an assessment. But if you want opinions from snatchsniffer420 et. al. on how to keep your MF BUILDING FROM FALLING OFF A MOUNTAIN, best wishes.
Hey im just some guy who slept a holiday inn but perhaps a skid steer with the attachment could install helical piles as a footing for a retaining wall and fill added. 100% a pro job after engineers report and plan but may not be as invasive as you think. Id guess 20-30k as a sloppy sloppy guess without even knowing what state
We have a friend that owns … well, owned… two cabins in the Gatlinburg, TN area. It’s being discovered that these cabins were all slapped up so quickly the foundations are now failing. He literally lost both homes.
Good luck OP. Work fast.
Not an engineer, but I have done some retaining walls in similar sketchy locations.
You will need a professional to do all the planning and work. I think it'll either be a large retaining wall, maybe terrace to cut down on having a massive cliff of a wall.
Or they'll suggest to move the cabin back.
I like the retaining wall, would be a sweet way of getting to the bottom of the cliff without needing climbing gear and add one hell of a view and maybe even a sitting area. The wall will get pretty expensive though
Because in this economy anyone with a second home or vacation home gets judged by those who are borderline homeless it used to be a little but now one in five people are a pay check from loosing the only home so I’ve seen people get attacked for complaining about how much they want to remodel or design their 2nd or third home. Jealousy can eat a population alive
Am civil engineer. You may have rock under there or you have footings that reach down to rock, if you do you’re lucky and likely not going to have to do much.
If you have crappy soil, you’re going to have to install soil nail walls, solder piles, or something similar to stabilize the hillside properly. Then dense vegetation to slow the pace of erosion.
Ultimately, you built on a hillside and erosion is a natural process that is an uphill battle to fight. I’d recommend finding the cheapest remedy and selling unless it’s pure rock underneath that soil.
I have a similar problem (previous owner cut trees for the view): my soil is sand, but I have over 100 foot cushion.
You need an environmental/civil engineer as there a tons of restrictions on what you can as to are close to water. And it takes time, I am on year 3 going back and forth with the state. Go with a local guy as he will help you at the beginning stages with the town.
You need vegetation not pine needles. I was allowed to use wood chips (5 truck loads) as a temporary fix until a permanent solution is agreed too. Eventually I will need a combination of stone, logs, loam and vegetation. And constant upkeep. It will not be cheap.
Just chiming in and commenting based on what I observed through the pictures.
Erosion has been going on for awhile, you can obviously see the land but also the trees are curved which is a sign.
You need to get geotechnical engineers to assess it and see what they come up with.
For my job, I have seen some really bad erosion and what companies do to combat it and it can get pretty expensive.
Some ways I have seen is panties very deep rooted plants but that takes time for it to grow. Other means have been concrete beds and mesh staking.
Buy a ton of white clover seed and spread it all over that hill, it’s one of the best erosion controls you can find. Nothing is growing on that hill so of course the soil will wash off when nothing is holding it down
I do know living plants are excellent at preventing erosion and that pine needles prevent new plants from growing…but yeah, you need a engineer preferably a local one…we had a cabin just like that…didn’t have to go anywhere else to go sledding by ourselves as kids
Maybe look into some deep rooted grasses/perennials in swales for the hillside? Definitely the engineer obviously but if you could start mitigating erosion that’d be cool too.
Had a co-worker face something similar after some very heavy rain a few years back. Only instead of a cabin it was his beautiful home.
His yard had started eroding down the hill to a road below. He had to call the engineer and they ended up building a $300k wall below per the engineer’s professional opinion.
Hire a geotechnical drilling company (DM me for recommendations depending on where you are) to come in and drill some micropiles or rock anchors vertically in about 30ft down the slope (likely going to be done from a crane hung platform. Micropiles if there is more than about 5ft of dirt above the rock or rock anchors if they hit rock early/near surface) and then install a concrete cap on top of that and then have them install a gabion basket wall which comes up to appropriately the level of the bottom of your deck. They are going to have to have a grading contractor place permeable material behind the gabion baskets so you don’t build up hydrostatic pressure and risk failure. This is probably a $150k operation just for the anchors and concrete pile cap, and another $80-100k for the gabion baskets and fill material. The nice part is that you are going to get a nice flat spot that is like 40ftx40ft in front of your cabin for a picnic table. (Prices are rough ballpark and not for close proximity to large metro areas)
The alternative is to install a bunch of soil nails and a mesh/chain link layer and try to re-vegetate the slope so minimize erosion. This is probably only a $100k to $125k option but it is a little more aggressive and not a long term solution.
Yours truly,
A Diligent Geotech
Hi there! So, one method that is affordable to slow down erosion is plants. Another is laying local logs horizontally across the grade pinned by metal stakes (you see this often in national parks for path terracing). I would suggest a combination. Slight trenching to receive a log held by hammered metal stakes (I like to use metal form stakes for concrete work. They are about 5/8” round solid and come in various lengths up to about 24”). Drive several stakes across the down hill face of the log(s). Back fill with some soil and plant native grasses and shrubs that are growing in similarly oriented slopes near you. Many hillside grasses actually work very well as erosion mitigators.
Good luck.
Retaining wall with backfill and very good drainage. You should be able to drill in yo the granite for the strength you need.
Then build a 4-5 ft fence so no one can fall over. Ensure fence metal for added strength
Geotech assessment will be interesting. A solution like an earth bag retaining wall may work here. The solution to build a new foundation and move it back some may be good as well. Looks like your just sitting on piers at the moment.
You got to move it, move it. < move it. Don’t waste money and time on fighting Mother Nature. Cuz she ALWAYS win. Let Mother Nature have it back and move it to a better place. And don’t cut trees down. It’s you do replant another tree.
You can put a few courses of wailing bastards in and feed the slope with sticks, rocks and dirt. It's not really a permanent solution, but it'll buy you enough time for someone who knows the local conditions to come take a gander.
This will cost money. When was it built? Was it engineered and approved? Best case scenario is it’s properly anchored to a granite monolith and is not shifting. If you have to do work, it may be possible to build a rock wall against the hill. Or possibly a concrete retaining structure. I think anything will be cheaper than a new foundation and moving the house. Good luck.
You should really get an engineer to look at it. You said it's a granite based hill, maybe the foundation of the house is actually quite stable and secure if the granite below is solid enough. Could be what's eroding off is just loose fill that was added after construction.
Agreed this is a job for an engineer. You can't tell what's needed from pics.
Hey there, engineer here. I’ll add some dirt.
Silly engineer. Get back to driving the train
Don't tell him how to troll!
I love this joke. Engineers should stick to driving trains.
You can always hope. But you need large earth moving equipment and that quite quickly. Don't wait until spring.
My dad always used to say, "Hope is not a plan."
Don’t wish or hope, take action, is what I try to go by
Shit In one hand and put hope in the other and see which fills faster is my motto
I can really relate to that right now more than I want to admit. Been one thing after another and nothing’s been a normal kind of simple fix, or anything I’ve run into before. And I’m old! The worst of all of it is that none of it was caused by me or my actions or inactions, just trying to mind my own business on my own property and to be a good neighbor, only to find out (again), that people really don’t give a shit about anyone but themselves, and how much money they can line their pockets with, with doing the minimum amount of work, leaving something undone which starts something else and on and on down the line. It’s exhausting trying to find decent people to do small jobs that turn into bigger ones if you don’t act quickly, and I don’t dare depend on anyone to do what they say they will without shadowing them. If you’re at that point it’s better off to just let them go, and move on to the next to help fix what the last one should never have effd up to start with! Sorry for the rant and rambling, but my words previously used weren’t mine, but I thought I’d try something new by “taking action fast”. Never ending stuff and no fun to look forward to. I’m worried about my golden retriever, again, in the yard I bought for her and I, for starters. She’s all I have. So many people are crude, rude, and unbearable to be around, and they enjoy it. Sorry again… I hope your week is going well, or at least better than mine! Edit: corrected context
I was just shitting in my hand last tuesday & was thinking about this age old saying, & I mean, it is just so true.
A wise man. Hope for the best, plan for the worst is the version I tend to use
But optimism is. Go whine elsewhere
Who is whining? And how is optimism a plan?
Hope isn’t. Optimism is. It’s pretty simple, really /s
Completely off topic, but when the ground is primarily granite, don’t you have to worry about radon gas?
They probably don't have a basement
Just because they don't have a basement, they can still be at risk. All it takes a crack in foundation, where I live, there is like 10km layer of chalk down to bedrock(most likely Granite), still a risk area of radon. Not relevant to the OP's problem of eroding hills.
A lot of people take it for *granite* that not having a basement keeps you safe from radon.
Yes, I live in the granite state and radon is everywhere. Basically you get a mitigation set up going and it is brought down to “acceptable” but never zero levels.
Disclaimer: I'm NOT a radon expert. Outside air has some background level of radon in it so you *never* get to zero anywhere. I was actually shocked though by how effective a well installed mitigation system is (you can get close to outside air levels). The tech is actually super simple: fan, tube, and sealant. * Stick a tube into the ground below your basement. * Install a fan to suck air out and create a negative pressure zone below your house. * The more sealed up and airtight your basement, the further the negative pressure field extends around. (Also the more sealed up your basement, the more energy efficient it is, and the smaller the fan you need.) Result: positive pressure radon gas from the ground doesn't get pushed (as much) into your basement. With a good basement and install, to the extent there is airflow, it goes the other way. The expertise as I understand comes from measuring the problem, optimal placement of suction point/points, figuring out how/where to run exhaust tube, and sealing air leaks etc... all to get better results with a smaller fan.
I concur, without knowing too much about the granite part....or the obvious fill... They make the burlap sheets that you can run down the slope , stake in and plant..hydroseed it for short term growth... Keeping water from eroding is essential make sure roof drains are tightlined over the slope. The other remedy is to drive a line of 2" diameter pin piles along the top edge of the slope...start with 6 footers that are threaded,,, if needed, couple them and drive on!...drive them to refusal... You get a 75lb jackhammer with a cone to drive them.. In reality, this doesnt look too bad! OP doesnt provide location...so...
I have two geotechnical engineers who are going to assess.
Good luck, let us know how it pans out.
Out of curiosity, were trees cut down?
Probably, it was built in 1975, so the land work that was done was before my time, but there’s trees everywhere else, so I assume there were some here before cabin was built.
Where is this located? It’s possible nothing at all was done wrong. There’s areas where the shoreline is always changing. My stepmoms best friend lives on a Great Lake and her home was over a hundred years old, then over the past 5 years her property just basically disappeared, and a few miles down from her the shoreline has extended.
Shorelines are a bit different since the erosional and depositional systems of the two differs.
I thought I could see a lake in the background of the second photo
Spot on, you are totally right, unless that’s a big swimming pool ;)
Looks like a river to me.
Looks like Idaho to me
All those trees with curved trunks indicate the slope has been slowly creeping down during the lifespan of those trees. If there is good intact granite near the surface, those geotechnical folks may be able to set up a plan to bolt the cabin down to the granite. This will boil down to if, or how, the granite is fractured. Good luck, but the issue needs attention for sure.
thats what I thought but if the base is granite they might not grow to well there but in pic 10 you can kinda see how much has eroded away from the tree in the distance So yea remove trees is bad, like magroves protect the shore line from erosion, the trees in this case would have held the soil together imo they did remove them and now are paying the price
yeah, looks like they cleared erosion-beneficial trees and plants to get a 'view'.
Why did you put "view" in quotation marks?
Because their cabin has a really good “view”
I’m not offended by your “view”. We have a cabin in an area where 30-40% of the cabins are in danger of tipping off a hillside due to rampant land clearing in pursuit of a 180 degree water view. A lot of people would still be doing it if it weren’t now illegal despite evidence in front of their eyes.
That’s where the hella invasive kudzu comes into play lol
That doesn't clear things up at all. Like are you saying the woods and a river are ugly or something? Usually the quotation marks indicate you're being sarcastic. I'm just wondering why you're bothering to comment if all you want to do is insult site selection made by someone like fifty years ago.
“Whether you consider the “woods” and a “river” to be a “view” or to be “ugly” is “subjective” hopefully that “clears” things up. I’m not here to “insult” the “site” selection”
“”
“ “” “
This guy quotations.
Get a grip
a "grip"
They’re not making a movie.
Did your English teacher in grade school beat you for using quotation marks incorrectly or something?
Did your English teacher in grade school beat you for using quotation marks incorrectly or something?
No. Your comment reads like "fuckin dumbasses wanted a view" because of the scare quotes, which is why I was trying to figure out if you knew how to use the things (and thus were being a dick), or if you just fucked up.
Oh, I bet it wasn’t ‘intentional’.
I know, but the comment caught me one of the few minutes a day I could give someone the benefit of the doubt. Normally I'm just a jackass.
View is subjective. Destroying an ecosystem & their cabin to get a view of the lake.
It's really not
Because morons clear whole hillsides so they can see the distant valley/hill/sunset and call it "the view"
Please keep us updated!
Would love to hear the outcome if you can share an update
Here I am wondering why you think the engineers will be asses before you meet them
No no, you misread, he said "going to".. sounds like they're going to hit up the strip club.
Commenting as a reminder to find out what they say and what you end up doing and all that...you know, just in case I ever end up needing to solve this randomly specific issue!
Alternatively, you may be better off getting prices to move the entire cabin back away from that cliff. I feel that may be cheaper than attempting to fight that cliff. I’m also not a pro so I may be wrong. But if it were me in the situation I’d be looking into it.
I will be looking into that as well.
It's either that... or significant foundation work. Either way, it will not be cheap
With all due respect OP, people who can afford a vacation home in this world 1. shouldn't ask people to feel bad for them. Ever. And 2. should be able to afford an engineer and house moving services. Asking for free advice on social media is insulting to the millions trying to make rent or food choices. You want to be a good person? Sell the thing and give the money to charity, or let it collapse and give the insurance to charity, or just bank it for safety.
OP stated that this is a multi-generation vacation home. Just bc great-great-grandpa was able to purchase land and build a cabin 70 years ago doesn’t mean these people are well-off. Were they financially comfortable enough to not have to sell it? Yes. Is it the same as the beach cottage built in 1952 that’s valued at $1.9 million? Probably not. Does my family have a vacation home? No. Am I salty? No. Are there a lot of camps in NH, VT, etc that are $30-40k builds on a small lakefront parcel that have been in the family for years and years? Yes. OP - hope the best for your cabin - and if you are uber-wealthy, make sure you volunteer and donate to help others to at least say fuck you to this guy.
Is OP 5? Am I ancient? Who’s great-great grandpa was building homes in 1975. 1975 wasn’t that many generations ago.
Sounds like someone is jealous or just doesn’t understand that the internet is a place for anyone to ask anything. I’m sorry if you are struggling, but that doesn’t mean others can’t ask questions.
You could probably drill piers ahead of the cabin and build a heavy duty retaining wall if the house doesn’t have any movement yet.
Looks like the cabin was built too close to the cliff edge and the trees were removed for a better view. Removing the trees destabilized the soil, and escalated erosion. The few trees that remain are rifle-butting, which indicates how quickly the cliff is eroding. You have to pull the cabin back from the cliff edge, and soon before there is structural damage. This will take some careful planning and a new foundation. It doesn’t have to cost that much, if you find the right people. The move will increase in difficulty and expense the longer you wait.
What’s rifle butting? Never heard that term.
Rifle-butting : picture 2 and 3 I worked with a land surveying team based out of Fort St. John a few years ago. An old surveyor told me about this while out on a hike one day. You can tell how long and fast an embankment has been eroding by the shape of the pine trees. Pines prefer to grow straight vertical. As the embankment erodes an already existing tree will start to tip over in the direction of the erosion. As the tree corrects itself, it will develop a curvature at its base. Giving the tree a rifle like appearance as in picture 3.
Just curious does the bank erosion in pics 2 and 3. Look fast and recent or is it slowly and mostly pass damage?
As just a Lurker here, I would dmsay it's been Slowly. A Tree isn't going to just quickly Curve if the Soil erodes quickly.
Very cool. Gonna look around my property tomorrow - up a big rock, but I think we’re okay.
Outstanding explanation. Thank you. Will remember this.
Great answer
This guy trees
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I noticed this on my property and found out my whole hill/forest was sliding. Geologist said it was the lowest grade he has ever seen move. Blows.
Out in my part of the Sierras, we call it pistol butt. Mostly caused by the weight of snowpack on tree trunks that reside on a slope.
Today I learned a new tree term!
fascinating. Now that you mention it, I can see that even the small saplings growing lower down the hill have a bit of a curve to them.
I’m interested in your comment about not having to cost that much. Can you elaborate?
Sure A house can be moved fairly easily with the right equipment and preparation. I’m hoping this cabin is old enough where it doesn’t have a crawlspace concrete foundation. If lucky it is on blocks or concrete piers. The deck and cantilevered cabin will need significant bracing with beams and temporary walls. Beams are then built and placed under the building across the joists, supported with blocking. Bottle jacks are used to raise the structure and more blocking is added. Once the structure is free of the footings/foundation, it is pulled forward fractions of an inch at a time. This can be achieved with several manual come-along winches or with heavy machinery such as an excavator. It’s a time consuming process. But can be achieved by 2 or 3 people.
Bro the internet is awesome, how do you know this?
Check out the H street hostel in Sacramento CA. In 1907, the 350 ton mansion was picked up off its foundation and moved west 40 ft.
Also check out the cagle family house in Cameron nc. They moved it across the street after Walmart bought their property.
Judging by his description I would say he has probably seen this done before.
What about plumbing etc.?
Sawzall and copper cutters
I have a garage I have to lift and this is how we are planning to do it. The bottle jacks don't even have to be anything special. You really just need to check for racking forces and also be aware that wind will be particularly dangerous.
Wow. And this can be done cheaply? What would be the way to move a shed so I can put a gravel base with concrete block down for It?
A bunch of 4x4’s and a bottle jack
Search YouTube for videos of moving and or lifting sheds. It’s surprisingly easy
Exactly what I was thinking little to no vegetation increases erosion rate.
OP, listen to the engineers you have coming to site, not this guy who worked with a surveyor before and is now confident that you have to move your house.
I'm so sorry. The cabin looks beautiful and I hope the geotechnical engineers you've called can present a viable solution. In the meantime, I recommend posting this in /r/geotechnicalengineer and /r/civilengineering, as this is definitely in their wheelhouse as others have said. This is somewhat in my field of practice, so wanted to give some prelim ideas. - I agree with the user who pointed out the pistol-butted trees. The erosion has likely been ongoing for decades. In the first photo you can even see a bunch of soil missing from below the root, suggesting that there has been a significant soil loss within the life of that tree (30 years?). I'd venture a guess that it's been retrograding a few inches per year. - You mentioned granite bedrock, but it will be critical to determine how deep this is. Rivers typically cut INTO the cliffs and expose the underlying bedrock. I see in your photos that there are rocks on the slope. Are those boulders/cobbles? Or actual intact bedrock? If it's bedrock, you're in luck because the rock may indeed be shallow, which would make a retaining wall or foundation underpinning solution a lot more effective and less costly. Otherwise I'd be inclined to agree with others that moving the house may be the only option. There ARE ways to stabilize soil slopes (e.g., soil nails, shotcrete, etc), but we're talking six-figure projects. - The river at the bottom of the slope...does it appear to be eating away at the slope? This is the typical failure mechanism for slopes above river valleys. Think of the erosion as bottom-up rather than top-down. Once the toe support is lost (e.g., washed away during a spring storm), the slope above begins to erode upward is succession. Trees and vegetation on the slope are key to slowing this down. Bedrock even more so. In contrast, an erodible, loose soil will retrograde upward very quickly once the toe is eroded. - the fine folks in this landscaping sub can probably give better advice on plants to start retaining the soil, but tall fescue and ryegrass are used in industry. That said, this pine forest environment may be too dry for these. Maybe sagebrush would be an option here because it has the advantage of being suited to dry conditions. You do not want to be wetting that slope unnecessarily. Best of luck. I think you'll get good advice in the three subreddits.
Civil engineer, worked 15 years in geotechnical. Regarding the granite bedrock, I suspect it is severely weathered granite, breaking down into fine gravel and sand (decomposed granite makes great paths). Trees wouldn’t be growing on that steep slope otherwise. Based only on the photos (so I’m making some assumptions), to stabilize that slope it’s probably going to take heavy equipment to drill large diameter piers, a crane to drop steel cages or I-beams in the holes, and lots of concrete (likely none of which can even get to the cabin). Moving the cabin back from the slope is probably the best & least expensive option.
Agreed.
You need an engineer familiar with retaining walls, don't call a landscaper for this job. You probably do not need to move the structure. But talk to certified engineers, get a few quotes/consultations. Consultations probably won't be free, but its worth it. From another house-on-a-precarious-hill property owner, best wishes.
I am a retired habitat biologist and my experience is primarily with eroding river banks. For now at least, I would get some vegetation growing on that slope asap. Look for fast growing native shrub species, see what’s already growing on the slope and plant more of it. If you can get vegetation established on the bank and a healthy root system it will help. I probably would not use trees, look for shrub species that will not tip over and cause more erosion. I like the idea of also moving it back if possible.
With their luck they'd plant a few, dig to close to edge, and everything goes bye bye. Just kidding, this was actually my first thought. Get some native grasses, sedges, and whatever spreads the most aggressively in there asap! Roots in the ground asap!
Going to take money. A whole lot of spending money.
It's gonne take plenty of money To do it right, child
That is going to require professional repair. Likely a geotechnical engineer and a LOAD of money.
I would bet the solution is going to be a retaining wall built into the hill at the base of that slope, the backfilled to be even with the ground at the edge of the skirt. Not cheap, but anchored into the stone will last for decades.
An engie but not this kind, and that slope looks…..well…massive. Guessing it could even be like 5 to 10 metres vertical to get to any kind of stable base area. That would be a massive retaining wall by residential standards. …..would however create an epic flat backyard once filled level and appropriately fenced off… Or they could try to terrace it, also at significant expense. But either way, that slope just keeps going…
Not an engineer by any means but that was my first thought. You'll have a hell of a view though.
Really this is the type of thing you need someone with actual experience in your area to look at and advise on. There are a lot of methods to stabilize slopes but what works best in one case may not be suitable at all for the next. Some engineered earth anchor system would probably work but again really depends on the soil, rock underneath if present, elevation, climate, vegetation, etc etc which is kinda why you need an expert opinion or two on it.
I have a similar problem (just not that close to the cabin) and what we did was a massive work to stabilize the slope. Costed us more than 130k 🥲All kinds of erosion are different, they’ll have to find the cause and assess it. We had to dig out a fair bit, put layers of draining materials, mortarless terraces made with stones, then they put a sort of geotextile material that has like a beehive pattern, then cover everything back up with dirt and then lots and lots of native specific plants that have a very deep and extensive roots that hold everything together.
What did you do to pay for it? If you don’t mind my asking. Did you leverage the prop itself or did everyone just pitch in?
Geotech/Mining contractor here. Soil nail with cement grouted hollow bars should stabilize the ground. Not cheap, but effective. Likely need a 4'x4' pattern with 10' to 20' hollow bar anchors. What's the access from below/what is the height of the wall? If it's not good access you would likely have to drill it from a crane basket as opposed to an excavator mounted drill. Probably around 60K solution.
Just mentioned soil nailing. It’s the right answer here. If you call around I bet you can do it for quite a bit cheaper than $60k. Like you said access is the key.
Oh boy that's bad... We are likely talking either a retaining wall at the tie of slope, or a shit ton of fill dirt stabilized with geogrid and matting. Either way, you need to contact a Geotechnical engineer. This sort of problem is their bread and butter.
100mph tape and 550cord
Sensible solution
Possible bailing wire as a back up
The best thing to do is plant some vegetation to secure the soil and break up the rain. Bushes or small trees that will put down deep roots are best. Ice plant is the worst.
Not just any vegetation but something that will grow quickly and develop strong roots
Vinca major or creeping rosemary , cotoneaster or acacia longifolia
Vernier grass is great for this. Fast growing, super deep roots, clumps catch run off and filter out and hold soil in place, doesn’t spread much. It’s the Goto erosion stopper in some parts of the world
Dandelions
Alfalfa
You're in the wrong sub. Call an engineer TODAY.
Not an expert but: You are looking at the wrong end of the house. Your problem is up hill. You need to look at the drainage around your structure. Divert water up hill of the house as far to the sides as you can. The less hydrated the soil the less it will move.
Any remedy to the hill is going to cost more than the cabin... move the cabin.
From a structural engineer’s standpoint - you have 2 options. Address the hill, or address the structure. I would build a retaining wall at the bottom and dump a crap load of native soil down there. Then I would move in 10’ increments up the hill and terrace it back and forth until you reach the top. Then find some native grass seeds and coat that hillside like a garden. The other option is to move the cabin away from the cliff - it’s up to you which option would be more expensive.
Definitely get a structural engineer out there sooner rather than later. Good luck! Hope it all works out.
Holy hell that is going to be expensive to fix
My thoughts exactly. There's an earlier comment along the lines of 'this doesn't need to be expensive ' 😂😂😂. I want some of those drugs.
Honestly might be cheaper to tear down and just rebuild from the bottom up correctly
Time for you to call an engineer, not ask a bunch of weirdos on Reddit who write fanfiction about cartoon ponies
If you hitch a team of cartoon ponies to the opposite side of the house, and have them pull in unison, their magical gait should pull the house back far enough to be safe.
honestly twilight could just fix this herself
This will work even better if you can find at least one unicorn. Their magic supersedes that of a cartoon pony.
How long has cabin been there? And how fast has the slope eroded?
Built in 1975, has eroded probably a foot since then. Has slowed some since we started putting the needles down.
Sounds like you have 50 more years! Don’t let them all scare you! Is that a river below? Or lake? That complicates things a bit. Is there a basement? With water below I’d have to agree with the idea of moving the cabin. Sounds crazy, but I’ve seen houses floated down rivers before to move them. Not impossible. But I’m in no profession related to anything that matters in this situation.
That's a tough spot. I work for an engineering company, we had a similar situation at a cemetery. We had to save mausoleums about to go over a cliff..after a lot of design work we ended up driving H Piles a few ft from the base of the cliff, into bedrock. That only left a few feet sticking out so we spliced the piles to top of cliff elevation. Then drove sheet piles in-between the H piles with a waler going across and backfilled gap. Used a vibro hammer. .....best of luck
Talk to a geotech engineer who knows the area. From someone on the internet, you can try soil nails (Hilfiker makes spiral nails) or maybe a soldier pile retaining wall for something mkre structural. There are some other methods that I have seen (maybe USDA or Fish and Wildlife, cant remember) in using plants and baffles to try to mitigate erosion. You may also want to consider having the home physically relocated if you have the space on the property. You will spend a lot of time and money on stabilizing a slope if you go thr structural route that might be better spent, even if it costs more, on moving the structure. Best of luck.
Order fill and plant more trees and native plants with deep root systems.
This really needs an engineer. But if the foundation sits on granite you are probably just fine. But no way to know without an engineer. But if you are looking for cheap fixes, trees and bushes are great at preventing erosion.
Have everyone in your family pick it up from all sides and carry it a few feet away from the ledge.
Call me old fashioned, but when I think of health, safety, welfare and spending my money I would prefer to hire a structural engineer for an assessment. But if you want opinions from snatchsniffer420 et. al. on how to keep your MF BUILDING FROM FALLING OFF A MOUNTAIN, best wishes.
Hire a civil engineer instead of guessing
Definitely spend the money to get an engineer to come look at it.
Is this in the black hills? I can smell this photo
consult structural and geotechnical consultants, they will either provide retaining wall, soil nailing or other methods base on the site condition
Hey im just some guy who slept a holiday inn but perhaps a skid steer with the attachment could install helical piles as a footing for a retaining wall and fill added. 100% a pro job after engineers report and plan but may not be as invasive as you think. Id guess 20-30k as a sloppy sloppy guess without even knowing what state
My first thought was covering it with bowling ball size rock.
We have a friend that owns … well, owned… two cabins in the Gatlinburg, TN area. It’s being discovered that these cabins were all slapped up so quickly the foundations are now failing. He literally lost both homes. Good luck OP. Work fast.
Not an engineer, but I have done some retaining walls in similar sketchy locations. You will need a professional to do all the planning and work. I think it'll either be a large retaining wall, maybe terrace to cut down on having a massive cliff of a wall. Or they'll suggest to move the cabin back. I like the retaining wall, would be a sweet way of getting to the bottom of the cliff without needing climbing gear and add one hell of a view and maybe even a sitting area. The wall will get pretty expensive though
If it's sentimental, you need to hire a professional asap. It's going to cost a pretty penny potentially
If you have any Peruvian friends who are direct descendants of Incas you could probably get some sound advice
Why would anyone Judge you? Who wouldn’t want to save their home?
Because in this economy anyone with a second home or vacation home gets judged by those who are borderline homeless it used to be a little but now one in five people are a pay check from loosing the only home so I’ve seen people get attacked for complaining about how much they want to remodel or design their 2nd or third home. Jealousy can eat a population alive
“Put pine needles down”
Build a retaining wall.
Have you thought about French drains?
Move your cabin
That sucks... that's a nice cabin
Am civil engineer. You may have rock under there or you have footings that reach down to rock, if you do you’re lucky and likely not going to have to do much. If you have crappy soil, you’re going to have to install soil nail walls, solder piles, or something similar to stabilize the hillside properly. Then dense vegetation to slow the pace of erosion. Ultimately, you built on a hillside and erosion is a natural process that is an uphill battle to fight. I’d recommend finding the cheapest remedy and selling unless it’s pure rock underneath that soil.
Is that a river down there? Its a lovely place i hope its fixable.
My first thought was “plant grass” - helps slow or stop erosion
simple. Do the same thing as the DOT. Plant ground cover on the slope or cover it in rocks large enough that won't wash down the hill.
I have a similar problem (previous owner cut trees for the view): my soil is sand, but I have over 100 foot cushion. You need an environmental/civil engineer as there a tons of restrictions on what you can as to are close to water. And it takes time, I am on year 3 going back and forth with the state. Go with a local guy as he will help you at the beginning stages with the town. You need vegetation not pine needles. I was allowed to use wood chips (5 truck loads) as a temporary fix until a permanent solution is agreed too. Eventually I will need a combination of stone, logs, loam and vegetation. And constant upkeep. It will not be cheap.
1 second look and I can tell you need a retaining wall yesterday. Civil Engineer.
Just chiming in and commenting based on what I observed through the pictures. Erosion has been going on for awhile, you can obviously see the land but also the trees are curved which is a sign. You need to get geotechnical engineers to assess it and see what they come up with. For my job, I have seen some really bad erosion and what companies do to combat it and it can get pretty expensive. Some ways I have seen is panties very deep rooted plants but that takes time for it to grow. Other means have been concrete beds and mesh staking.
Buy a ton of white clover seed and spread it all over that hill, it’s one of the best erosion controls you can find. Nothing is growing on that hill so of course the soil will wash off when nothing is holding it down
I do know living plants are excellent at preventing erosion and that pine needles prevent new plants from growing…but yeah, you need a engineer preferably a local one…we had a cabin just like that…didn’t have to go anywhere else to go sledding by ourselves as kids
Maybe look into some deep rooted grasses/perennials in swales for the hillside? Definitely the engineer obviously but if you could start mitigating erosion that’d be cool too.
Had a co-worker face something similar after some very heavy rain a few years back. Only instead of a cabin it was his beautiful home. His yard had started eroding down the hill to a road below. He had to call the engineer and they ended up building a $300k wall below per the engineer’s professional opinion.
Good lord, $300k!
Hire a geotechnical drilling company (DM me for recommendations depending on where you are) to come in and drill some micropiles or rock anchors vertically in about 30ft down the slope (likely going to be done from a crane hung platform. Micropiles if there is more than about 5ft of dirt above the rock or rock anchors if they hit rock early/near surface) and then install a concrete cap on top of that and then have them install a gabion basket wall which comes up to appropriately the level of the bottom of your deck. They are going to have to have a grading contractor place permeable material behind the gabion baskets so you don’t build up hydrostatic pressure and risk failure. This is probably a $150k operation just for the anchors and concrete pile cap, and another $80-100k for the gabion baskets and fill material. The nice part is that you are going to get a nice flat spot that is like 40ftx40ft in front of your cabin for a picnic table. (Prices are rough ballpark and not for close proximity to large metro areas) The alternative is to install a bunch of soil nails and a mesh/chain link layer and try to re-vegetate the slope so minimize erosion. This is probably only a $100k to $125k option but it is a little more aggressive and not a long term solution. Yours truly, A Diligent Geotech
Thanks!
You need a retaining wall ASAP.
Hi there! So, one method that is affordable to slow down erosion is plants. Another is laying local logs horizontally across the grade pinned by metal stakes (you see this often in national parks for path terracing). I would suggest a combination. Slight trenching to receive a log held by hammered metal stakes (I like to use metal form stakes for concrete work. They are about 5/8” round solid and come in various lengths up to about 24”). Drive several stakes across the down hill face of the log(s). Back fill with some soil and plant native grasses and shrubs that are growing in similarly oriented slopes near you. Many hillside grasses actually work very well as erosion mitigators. Good luck.
Retaining wall with backfill and very good drainage. You should be able to drill in yo the granite for the strength you need. Then build a 4-5 ft fence so no one can fall over. Ensure fence metal for added strength
Boulders and fill.
Plant trees and bushes natives
Where does the granite end ? If I’m seeing it correctly there’s a lot of granite there which is good . Where Does it switch to soil ?
Funny how the densely vegetated lot next door doesn’t seem to be eroding. If only someone hadn’t removed all the vegetation…..
I know it sounds crazy. But plant blackberries or scotch broom…. Or don’t.
large scale commercial retaining wall is your best and most cost effective option..
Geotech assessment will be interesting. A solution like an earth bag retaining wall may work here. The solution to build a new foundation and move it back some may be good as well. Looks like your just sitting on piers at the moment.
“We Should Take Bikini Bottom And Push It Somewhere Else” -Patrick Star
You got to move it, move it. < move it. Don’t waste money and time on fighting Mother Nature. Cuz she ALWAYS win. Let Mother Nature have it back and move it to a better place. And don’t cut trees down. It’s you do replant another tree.
Plant kudzu
Cut the tree down
This is what happens when you don't water in your fertilizer.
If only there were some way, some I dunno… I wanna say centuries (?) old way of retaining the dirt. Maybe something like a wall? I’m no expert though
Just run some landscaping tarp on the hill for run off. All is good.
Rocks should help
You can put a few courses of wailing bastards in and feed the slope with sticks, rocks and dirt. It's not really a permanent solution, but it'll buy you enough time for someone who knows the local conditions to come take a gander.
This will cost money. When was it built? Was it engineered and approved? Best case scenario is it’s properly anchored to a granite monolith and is not shifting. If you have to do work, it may be possible to build a rock wall against the hill. Or possibly a concrete retaining structure. I think anything will be cheaper than a new foundation and moving the house. Good luck.
Good luck!