Amanda - Yes the front of the house sits smack ON the ground, even under it. I dug a trench around it to get the dirt off the siding and then I place large chunky rocks in the ditch to try to hold back the soil. I figure every 5 years or so I will have to move the rock out, re-dig and put them back as they soil does slowly fill back in with rains, shifting ect. I don't know what else to do short of large dirt work, regrade the entire yard basically (the front yard kind of slopes toward the front of the house. We thought about digging the area around the house down and then putting in actual cement/rock wall like a terrace to make it more permanent. But that costs alot, not sure what we want and so many other irons in the fire right now. For the time being I think it is under control. GREAT idea to prime the BACK sides, never would of thought of that. (tell your dad I said thanks!) I wonder how it would look to do vinyl on the front and then use the smart side on the rest of the house? The front is so choppy and lots of windows, so it is difficult. The rest of the house is more plain, flat and larger open spaces. Hmmm may do that. The smartside has a tongue and groove sort of feature that when cut, ruins the rest of the piece so that is why it probably would not be feasible for that front of the house.
here is a pic of the east side, more plain.
