Block slope... the fun begins

Geez Alf, got enough problems at home on my own without buying in to yours!

Anyway, cut and fill is standard fare however is pox-ridden if you walk out your back (or front) door into an earth embankment, at least that is my personal opinion.

In the old days it was always a mound - made for very grand houses on hills.

Stumps are fine too but you do have the problem of an enormous sub-floor bank of structure that will be visually obvious.

Mound can be expensive and it is the old story of champagne tastes on a beer budget. if you can afford it, go for it. If not, compromise!

Alf, fill can be cheap as all excavation firms need places to dump their excavated material and the best option is to look up the various plant hire places in the phone book and let them know you are looking for some fill.

They will ask you what type and you don't want rubbish but this is where the fill option can get a bit tricky as you need something that is compactable without being overly reactive (ie: with too much of the wrong type of clay). A fill job will require some engineering these days as your footings will need to go through the fill into solid ground. Yes, I did say it was a more expensive option!

With all due respect, this is not an option for the home handyman and if you don't know what you are doing then you are better off paying someone else to do it. Get a couple of quotes first as the price can vary wildly.