Holding the Hillside in Ramona

A project of this scope in Ramona typically falls in the $85,000-$100,000 range. The main cost drivers are the amount of artificial turf (nearly 3,000 sf here), the extent of retaining wall and stair work needed to manage the hillside grade, and the drainage system required to move water off the terraced areas. Smaller projects with less wall work and a flat lot can come in considerably lower.

In unincorporated San Diego County, retaining walls with an exposed height of 3 feet or less generally do not require a building permit. Walls taller than 3 feet, walls that support surcharge loads (like driveways or fences), or tiered walls that together exceed 6 feet in total height do require a permit.

Yes, and Ramona hillside properties are actually a great fit for artificial turf. Natural grass on a slope struggles to establish, burns out in summer heat, and often erodes during rain events. The Imperial Desert Rye 65 installed here was secured over gopher mesh across the entire area, infilled with antimicrobial Camofill, and edged with a concrete mow strip to hold everything in place on the grade. It stays green and low-maintenance year-round regardless of slope.

On a sloped property, unmanaged surface water erodes base material, undercuts walls, and pools against the foundation. For this project, IID installed 233 lf of PVC drain pipe running through the turf area, collecting water through 5 drainage pop-ups and discharging it at controlled exit points. The turf base is also permeable, so rainfall moves through the turf and into the drainage system instead of pooling on the surface. Grading was designed to direct water away from the home structure per California residential code requirements.

This project ran approximately 13 working days (~2.5 weeks of active construction), which is typical for a scope of this size. Hillside projects can take longer than flat-lot installs because each phase, grading, drainage, walls, paving, and turf, depends on the previous one being solid. Material delivery timing and weather can also affect the schedule, but IID works to protect the schedule from the start.

Gopher mesh is a heavy-gauge galvanized wire mesh installed directly on the compacted subgrade before the turf base goes down. In Ramona and other inland San Diego areas, ground squirrels and gophers are common and will burrow up through artificial turf from below, damaging the installation and creating lumps in the surface. Approximately 3,858 sf of gopher mesh was installed on this project, covering the entire turf footprint and then some, to protect the investment for the long term.