You haven't said the house is symmetrical, and even if it is you don't need symmetry but rather balance. I'm not clear on why you've chosen to divide the yard into "designed" and a "plant collector's" halves. You can design with special plants, integrating the two objectives. And you wouldn't be the first one to begin your design process with the plants you have or want. But what does catch my attention is the word "perennials". It may have escaped your attention that there are a lot of very special plants to collect in families like conifer, Japanese maple, and rhododendron ( you may curse me when you find out how much money can be spent on those plants :-)). I frequently recommend that people take a spin around the conifer forum to get an idea of the world of dwarf conifers. I started with perennials too, but am finding them much less gratifying and less amenable to being designed with as my interest in overall landscape has escalated. What you're after with plants like that is "bones", which is something you can do with hardscape as well. To post a photo, you could check out the gallery side, and put a link to it here in this thread, or you post from a Photobucket or other photohosting site. What you want to put into the body of your message here is the html code, starting with something like KarinL

Ok, let me try to explain more clearly. Yes, it's a slab foundation and all that rock around the perimeter is, actually, leftover base material from the construction of the slab. So, at one end of the house, my slab is about 6" above the natural dirt ground; but one the opposite side of the house, the slab is more than 3' above the dirt. So, basically, the house is sitting up on a mound of base material. When you walk out our front or back door, and hit the end of the porch(es) you step off onto that base material and it slopes rather dramatically downward, to the natural dirt/grade. That's why I call it a raised foundation. I thought the pictures show that the foundation (and the house on top of it) are perched up pretty high of the natural ground One option would be to truck in a bunch of dirt and pile it on top of the rock base material and smooth it out to blend into the natural grade of the land. That will take a BUNCH of dirt, though. I'm trying to figure out an economical way to landscape the perimeter of the house, with the least effort possible. I need to leave that base material where it is, though, to keep water running off and away from the foundation - per the foundation builder's suggestion. Yes, we are VERY rural in S. Texas. The tank in the picture is a liquid propane tank. Hope this helps people understand. I could sure use some suggestions.

The post above carlos229 is not the OP. One thing I was going to point out about the difference in cost: If you divide the total cost by the proposed # of piers, you get $1600/pier for one contractor and $1700 for the other. So their rate per pier is not far off at all. I did the same thing with foam jacking my sinking driveway. Had estimates from $980 all the way to $2200. Each estimated an amount of foam plus a per-pound price if they went over. I calculated the cost if everyone used the same amount as the highest estimate, and the estimates came out within a couple hundred bucks of each other at that point. So I picked the guy I liked best. He wasn't the cheapest one but it didn't make that much difference. Question is how many piers you need, and I can't help with that. I liked the idea of hiring someone who has no stake in the game to tell you want you need.

It can be done. Looks like a reworked/re-purposed porch that used 4x4 treated post for the foundation. It appears as if the 2x4's were just used to hold the plywood skirting. If this is the case. A steel I beam or 4x4 post could be slid under the joist behind the wall (back about 24" from the outside wall. Cribbing and jacks then used to raise the room slightly (enough to remove all of the wood) and support the room. Now it gets expensive.. Trench it for a concrete footer to be poured. Lay block, cap block and Ground contact treated 2x8 on top of it for the wall to be lowered onto. Remove the beam and cribbing. It takes a person in the know, some careful planning and measuring in order to get the room to sit level on top of the new foundation once lowered onto it. Only people that should tackle such a project are ones that work in the concrete and block laying industry with experience in constructing block foundations. ==== And to add>> >> If you jack a room or house up enough to remove the old foundation and install new. Some sheetrock damage on the inside walls may occur and should be expected..