Getting Equipment Into a San Rafael Hillside Isn’t Simple
Marin County projects always have something different going on, and this San Rafael job was precisely that. The house sits on a steep hillside, and the only way to get a Bobcat and an excavator into the backyard was straight through the client’s garage. No side yard, no driveway access — just one tight opening and a slope waiting on the other side.
That’s the part of hillside construction most people never see. Before we even break ground, we’re already dealing with access, slope, elevation changes, and figuring out how the land wants us to move that day.
Full Project Photos:
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YouTube Video For This Project:
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Why Deep Piers Matter on San Rafael Hillsides
Once we opened up the slope, we started drilling the 18-foot-deep, 18-inch-diameter concrete piers. San Rafael soil can shift from clay to rock to moisture pockets all within a few feet. That’s why engineers call for deep pier foundations and a structural grade beam. Out here, the hillside controls the pressure, and the wall only performs if it’s tied deep into the earth.
We drilled the piers, set the rebar cages, tied everything clean, and poured it all into a grade beam designed to lock the retaining wall in place long-term. No shortcuts — hillside work doesn’t forgive mistakes.
H2: Hillside Surprises You Can’t See on the Plans
Even with a full engineered set, hillside projects in San Rafael always bring surprises. You might uncover harder soil pockets, small elevation changes, or access limits that the drawings didn’t show. That’s normal out here. Once the slope is open, it tells you exactly what it needs — and that’s when experience comes in.
This is why the work has to stay flexible. The engineer gives the design, but the hillside gives the real conditions.
What Makes San Rafael & Marin County Retaining Walls Different
The Terrain Runs the Project
Marin’s hills aren’t flat by any stretch. Retaining walls here deal with sliding soil, moisture changes, and constant pressure behind the wall.
Soil Conditions Change Fast
Two piers drilled five feet apart can hit totally different materials. Deep piers and grade beams are the only way to stabilize these slopes.
Tight Access Is Part of Every Job
Homes in San Rafael weren’t built with heavy machines in mind. Moving equipment without damaging the property takes time, strategy, and patience.
A Little About San Rafael & Marin County
The geology here — clay, rock veins, moisture pockets — is why structural retaining walls are so important.
San Rafael is the oldest city in Marin County, founded in 1817.
The area is known for steep residential hillsides and older homes built into the terrain.
Lucasfilm originally started in San Rafael before expanding to Skywalker Ranch.
WHAT WE SEE IN THE FIELD vs. WHAT’S ON PAPER
The plans give us the layout — pier spacing, elevations, and how the wall is supposed to sit on the hillside. Architects and engineers put everything together clean and squared up, which is exactly what they’re supposed to do. But once we open up the ground in San Rafael, the hillside begins to tell its own story.
Out here in Marin County, the soil changes fast. One hole is clay, the next is rock, then moisture, then old fill that wasn’t even on the drawings. Elevations shift a little once we start cutting in, and access ends up tighter than it looked on paper. None of that shows up in the plans — it only shows up when the work actually starts.
As we move forward, we make adjustments based on what the hillside provides. That’s normal for this area. And yes, sometimes that means possible change orders. We don’t love them — nobody does — but they’re part of making sure the job gets built right when the field conditions don’t match what was on paper.
And honestly, when people watch our videos, https://bit.ly/ALLACCESSCONSTRUCTION they’ll see exactly what we mean. Every hillside job moves a little differently once we’re actually in the dirt.
We follow the engineer’s design, but the field decides the details.
That’s the part the plans can’t show — and the part that makes the wall actually hold up in San Rafael.
Check Out More All Access Blogs
If you’re checking this one out and want to see how other hillside or retaining wall projects come together, take a look at some of the other blogs. Every job has a different story, different terrain, different challenges — especially out here in the Bay Area.
Main Blog Page: https://tinyurl.com/All-AccessBlogs
This video walks you through the entire San Rafael hillside process — from the cuts we had to make to get the slope opened up, to the deep pier drilling, to the grade beam and rebar setup, all the way through the concrete pour. If you want to see what it really takes to build a structural retaining wall on a Marin County hillside, this breaks it down step by step.
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