Erosion control built into the structure of your property

Tell us what you're dealing with and we'll assess whether your site needs a structural fix, not another surface treatment.

Landscaping fabric, seed mats, and a few well-placed plants can slow surface runoff on a gentle slope. On a steep grade or an active shoreline, they don't address what's actually happening: water moving through the soil, undercutting root systems, and destabilizing the ground from below. Once that process starts, it compounds. Each rain event removes more material, exposes more root structure, and widens the failure zone. The fix has to go deeper than the surface. Engineered structural systems -- boulder reinforcement, properly graded retaining walls, and integrated drainage -- address the cause of soil loss, not just the symptom. That's the difference between a repair that holds and one you revisit every spring.

A hillside erosion problem and a shoreline erosion problem look similar from a distance but have different causes and different regulatory contexts. Steep-grade backyard slopes lose soil primarily through surface runoff and subsurface water movement. Lakefront shorelines face wave action, freeze-thaw cycles, and Wisconsin DNR shoreland regulations that govern what you can build and how close to the water. McGuire works across both site types, designing boulder reinforcement, seawalls, and living shoreline integration for lakefront properties, and retaining walls, grading corrections, and native planting buffers for hillside sites. Knowing which system fits your site -- and what permits it requires -- is part of the work, not an afterthought. If your property also has drainage challenges, see our drainage solutions for how we address subsurface water movement as part of the same project.

Not every lakefront erosion problem calls for a seawall. In many cases, living shoreline integration -- native plantings with deep root systems, combined with strategic boulder placement -- stabilizes the bank while maintaining the natural character of the shoreline. Native plants adapted to Wisconsin's water margins anchor soil through root density that turf grass can't match, and they do it year-round, including during the freeze-thaw cycles that do the most damage. Where wave action or ice pressure requires harder infrastructure, boulder reinforcement or a seawall provides the structural backbone, with plantings integrated to reduce ongoing maintenance and satisfy DNR shoreland requirements. The goal is a system that works with the site's hydrology rather than against it.

Wisconsin DNR shoreland permits and setback requirements aren't paperwork you deal with after the design is done -- they shape what's possible and what's required. McGuire coordinates permit requirements as part of the planning process, so the structural solution we design is one that can actually be built. For hillside properties in Washington, Waukesha, and Ozaukee Counties, local grading and drainage ordinances apply similarly. Getting this right at the planning stage avoids redesigns, delays, and the compliance notices that often send property owners searching for help in the first place. Once the erosion system is in place, many clients extend the project to include lake access stairs, walkways, or a broader backyard renovation that takes full advantage of the stabilized terrain.