@Frillylily ...
Yes, this is an older home. It was built in the 1960s. I
think the deep foundation is built with blocks with lots and lots of rebar in it because the house pad was cut out of the slope.
This is a photo of the front of the house ... please ignore the grass. The blue portion is block and the yellow is painted redwood siding.
Although you can't see it because of the sealer Mr. J put on the wall, the portion of the wall behind the bed is also block.
The house has a huge crawl space and there is a sump pump under that end of the house because there was a water problem from the slope behind the house draining under the house. I put in a french drain in front of the slope and that seems to have stopped water from draining under the house. I also had to re-direct the down spout. It just went straight down to the crawl space under the house with no provision to handle the water that flowed through it. I haven't a clue as to why he did this, but I didn't think it was a good idea.
Thanks for the warning.
Lyn