I did that for my wood fence, but I used treated lumber. Don't know if it was cheaper. Another option is a narrow band of rocks/gravel. I have that around my current foundation. That needs to be weeded but otherwise it is OK. I don't recommend doing a lot of it due to maintenance, but a thin band next to the house is OK unless you have a drainage problem. Mine is under the eaves so does not collect moisture.

I know that code says that it has to be 4" below finished grade, so I would have to dig down about 6"... and, yeah, could easily backfill that with rocks. Just trying to figure out if that actually will achieve anything before I undertake the project. It makes sense that it would - the rock wouldn't retain much moisture, it would allow air flow so that the brick can 'breathe'.

Are termites a concern? In my area, we are told to keep the soil and mulch below the brick line so that you can see the termite tunnels and address the problem early.

Not as much, though I hear it is becoming more of a problem in Colorado. We aren't humid or damp enough generally, so they don't thrive like they do in the south. But, that is one of the risks that I am hoping to mitigate, especially with bark mulch leading up to the house.

What an eyesore adding metal to the brick would be. Regrade. That soil level has to be brought down below the brick. I don't think there's even a question about this.

I am coming around to essentially digging about 4-6 inches away from the base of the house to get the dirt below the brick line, use some edging to hold back the soil, and then backfill that space with stone against the house. So the brick will have a 4-6 inch stone border along it to create a buffer, let the brick breathe, and create a bit of a critter gap. Good call on cedar mulch! To Beverly's point - I'm going to improve the slope away from the house from there to about 4-5ft from the house, put in a french drain at the bottom of that to intercept the drainage from our uphill neighbors, and grade back out of that drain on the other side, so the drain will be at the bottom of this limited swale. It won't improve the grading of the entire yard - that is literally impossible without digging up about a dozen trees that are over 50 yrs old - but it will keep water away from the foundation, and will allow the brick to breathe, which are the main two main goals I need to achieve.

Just be aware that rocks hold water, so don't put a lot of them next to your house and make the slope away from the house or else you will create a little water sponge area right next to your house foundation. The spaces between the rocks hold water, so rocks carry much more water than soil or mulch. The situation I described works due to the grade (away from foundation) and also due to it being under the eaves so water doesn't generally drain into that area. Grading is key.

Thanks! Agreed, using something like pea gravel would certainly just hold moisture and could be worse than dirt against the foundation, which is the current condition. I was thinking of using some large rock instead - like 2"-4" cobblestone - so there are large air gaps and minimal touch points between the rocks that would allow moisture to collect. This is under the eaves as well - except for one section - so it doesn't get much moister to begin with. Some friends have mentioned painting the exposed foundation with a waterproof sealant as an extra precaution. I have no experience with that, and how clean the foundation has to be in order for the sealant to bond/function, but I'll probably look into it.