Because the ground around the home is higher, the ideal thing to do is to
provide good water run off. Do not back fill under the home at all, because
the more air circulation, the better it will be. If water gets down there,
it will not only rot the wood, but can cause mold. Install a submersible
sump pump in the lowest spot, with some kind of access door for maintenance.
If you back fill, and the dirt gets wet, it's much harder to dry it out.

"rscho" wrote in message
. ..
I've had to remove a few T&G floorboards near some walls to replace
rotten joists in a cavity brick house. In order to get underneath the
boards I had to dig out about 6-8 inches of rubble (bricks, mortar and
clay soil) making a space of about 1'4" so I could crawl around. Having
replaced the rotten joists (and fixed the drainage problems that caused
them) I don't know whether to return the rubble, replace with a cleaner
& easier draining (and less smelly!) fill like crushed rock or leave it
cleared. The ground level underneath the house is now about 5" lower
than that outside the house.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.