The same thing happened to me at my last house. The upturned subsoil was like modeling clay. I leveled it by hand (after the ground had defrosted), but when it settled it was again not level. I solved the problem by moving. Based on my experience, the only permanent way to level it will be to level it more or less by hand, give the dirt time to settle, rent a tiller, till all the surface soil, rake it smooth, rent a roller if you can afford it, and reseed. Good luck.

Is the smell all over or just inside? If it's the latter, does it smell like rotted food, or like mold and mildew? Did you try washing it down with diluted bleach? If you do, try not to breathe the fumes, wear gloves, and use a thirsty sponge and bucket. Wipe with a towel, then prop open the door and let it hard dry. If there is algae, mold or something else growing in the compressor, evaporator, water lines, etc., it may need to be taken apart to clean, and it may well not be worth it.

Thank you for your input & advice. Okay, ramdon thoughts: Actually, I was planning on me & the kids doing it ourselves with the father-in-law & husband 'supervising'. I am not trying to cut corners too sharply or be cheap, it's just I don't think we can afford to hire someone professionally, although I am going to call around & have 2 or 3 guys come out & give me quotes. I thought I could save some money for starters by buying all the materials needed myself. Thanks for reminding me about calling the other utilities, I had forgotten about that. I live out in a rural area & alot of people around here do this type of job themselves. The town I live in only has about 300 people in it so I would have to get someone from the next town over, about 25 miles away. There's always the hassle of finding someone who is willing to come this far out & there's usually an extra fee. I know it's not the same thing, but I feel like if my son & I can handle a tiller, we should be able to do this, or at least some of it. Actually, I am the one who came up with the idea to rent a ditch witch, not my father-in-law. I'll have to check first, but as far as I know, the only utility lines is telephone. We're on butane but that runs from the back of the house. Electrical lines are above ground, not below. Sewer is a septic tank & is behind the house. The house has 2 bathrooms but one isn't used because that's where the washing machine is & it's a tight squeeze between the washing machine & toilet (has a shower only). Eventually, I want the washing machine out because I don't like it in there anyway. About 5 feet from my back door is an efficiency apartment that my son uses for his bedroom. The previous owners ran a water line between the houses when they had the apartment built. It is actually the back of this apartment that the back outside faucet is located. All around the main house is a concrete walkway including the area at the faucet. Sooo, I am thinking we probably won't replace from there & into the house unless absolutely necessary. I don't know for sure, but I think the inside lines are the old copper ones. If those have to be replaced then that will be done by a professional & at a later date. Right now we are having to turn the water on & off at the meter so hopefully the bill won't be too bad.

Good idea - here are several pictures, taken from right to left. Off camera to the right is a little slab with a shed on it that prevents me from laying a traditional french drain. So this is a little alcove of sorts that just happens to be situated in an area that slowly accumulates dirt over the years. The current problem is that doors in that area of the house stick (pretty badly) and walls flex enough to pop nails (etc). The entire area (in North Texas) is known to 'rock and roll' with the seasons, but the problematic areas I see are those in which soil has access to brick and mortar (i.e., is above the footer). These areas also seem to have longer-term structural damage in the brick. So I am attempting to make my doors work properly now and prevent longer term damage in the future by addressing the problem with a low-tech (i.e., inexpensive) solution. I do realize that I will need to keep dirt from accumulating again, but I think I can manage that. Note that under the drier vent there is a footer that rises up 2-3 inches above soil, but that just left of it you can see brick well below the excavated soil line. Right of the vent is a slab foundation addition to a pier and beam house, so the footer is higher in this area and marks where the new addition starts. I suspect this joint is causing some of the problems (as well as those perviously repaired cracks in the brick just below the window). Moving to the left, you see the problem continues. Moving further left, you'll notice that the soil is lower as we reach this corner. Rain fall carries soil away to the back of the house here, so it does not accumulate quite so egregiously. (By the way, I am aware that the soaker hose will exacerbate problems; it is not currently being used.) Just off camera to the left is a post oak (which are very vulnerable to construction damage) that provides excellent shade. I don't want to mess with it too much, thus this request for help! And here you see the other side of the corner, where the soil begins to dip below the footer once again. Hope this helps! Thanks again for looking. :)