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aemeijers

wrote:
(snip)

Interesting. I didn't realize hardiboard would wick water. There's
no way I can get 4" above the ground with anything unless I dig out
half my backyard (right now there are areas where it's about 1" at
best).

I had considered PVC but didn't find any that was 5/8" as you
suspected. If I went with 3/4" PVC could I just caulk where it meets
the siding instead of using a flashing? Also, I presume the
hardiboard would last a lot longer than the plywood siding did, right?

My sympathies. When I was house-shopping a few years back, I had to pass
on an otherwise-interesting house because it had one corner like that,
where Previous Owner had graded one corner of yard higher than the
siding, and there was obvious water intrusion inside. Life is too short,
etc. Drove by there six months later, and the folks that bought it had
trenched the back yard, and put a retaining wall several feet back from
the wall, to expose a few inches of foundation and dry things out.
Still looked awful dicey in case of heavy rain, but at least it was dry
most of the time.

About the only suggestion I can offer, short of removing the bottom 2
feet of the framed wall and replacing with concrete block, is to remove
the lower foot of siding, replace with as thick a flashing material as
you can find, sealed to the slab in some manner. Not a correct fix, and
it will leak when the seal fails, but better than having wet wood. Or
trench the area and put in a retaining wall. put in a drain to a low
spot, fill trench with gravel, and dress it up with some potted shrubs.

--
aem sends....