# Forum Home Renovation Demolition  Cutting into the hill under the house

## attilazoltan

So I have this relatively large space under my backyard deck. Its approximately 1.5m high.
Im wondering what I could do with this space down here. 
Would it be safe to cut into the dirt at all? Or would that cause my house to roll down the hill?   
Just wondering what use I could get out of the space. Cutting hte dirt down 30cm or so, maybe squaring it up a bit and adding a single row of concrete blocks 30cm or so to help keep loose dirt in place. 
Could store garden tools etc under there, maybe build a short storage shed. Just wondering what i could get away with.

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## intertd6

> So I have this relatively large space under my backyard deck. Its approximately 1.5m high.
> Im wondering what I could do with this space down here. 
> Would it be safe to cut into the dirt at all? Or would that cause my house to roll down the hill?   
> Just wondering what use I could get out of the space. Cutting hte dirt down 30cm or so, maybe squaring it up a bit and adding a single row of concrete blocks 30cm or so to help keep loose dirt in place. 
> Could store garden tools etc under there, maybe build a short storage shed. Just wondering what i could get away with.

  you shouldn't excavate below the base of the footings without appropriate designed underpinning being in place or your house may move down the hill.
regards inter

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## PeteV

You need to consult an engineer for these works...

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## phild01

Looks to me that someone has already dug it out as far as they were prepared to go, or a cut and fill.

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## attilazoltan

hmm so my options would be to either get an engineer to come check it out and make suggestions as to retaining walls/additional supports required etc. 
Or if I want ot do something on my own all I can get away with is leave the ground as is and put in a few standalone shelves/hooks etc for storage.

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## Marc

That hill seems pretty steep!, what's on the other side of the deck ... or rather, how high off the ground is the other end?
The reason I ask is that when it would be unwise to go scratch around the wall, you can go away from the wall and build a platform. Not sure of dimensions but it seems you can get good headroom just a couple of meters away from the wall ... then even a roof over the platform?

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## attilazoltan

a row of small pine trees just in front of the deck, and then a retaining wall that drops down even further. The pine trees are probably holding everything together.
This photo gives a better view of the whole space though..

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