Hmmm .... I have to say I would be concerned that those railroad tie retaining walls are directing the water towards the house instead of away from the house. Was he going to fill them with dirt? I think I would remove them and regrade the slope away from the house and do a shrub/perennial border - plants and mulch should keep the hill from eroding. You might need a temporary means of keeping the water from running down the hill until the plants are established ( I used the plastic edging used for pavers and covered with mulch) . You could put in a retaining wall but I don't think it's necessary .... or maybe a partial wall that starts at the bottom and tapers into the hill at the top.

Nope, contractor left job as you see it. I planted daylillies to try and keep runoff to a minimum. We were thinking it would need terracing then planting, but had it priced and its in the 10s of thousands to hire it done, and about 5 or 6 for supplies for us to do ourselves. And I don't think my husband and I are physically able to do it.
So you think just planting it would work?
Kat

1) do you have problems with water running down the hill? I'm sure it runs down, but if it just runs into the bush below and nobody cares about the run off, you could just removethe railway ties and plant along the house.

The railway ties will only slow the water movement, not stop it. And based on the second picture, the soil under one right beside the house is now washed out, so they are doing little good.

2) It looks like soil comes right up to the brick on the house. I don't think that is correct. Bricks should never contact the soil. If soil needs to be removed next to the house it would result in water flowing towards the house, causing even worse problems. You might have to have the whole hill re-landscaped.

Note that I am not an expert on this matter, so I could be wrong. Check with the City about soil levels and their regulations.