A sort of gardening question

We have a house with a slab foundation--no basement at all.
We need to add soil around the foundation so it slopes away from the house & doesn't settle against it.
Does anyone have any advice on what I might try besides piling top soil along the foundation?

How about a mixture of course sand and very tiny gravel, then cover it with the topsoil. The bottom mixture will give you good height and drainage. Just a thought.

We also have a slab foundation. We have beautiful riverbed rock in different shades along several outside walls. When it rains we don't have the problem of mud splashing up on the outside walls either. Check out a landscape supply place near you and see all the different varities of stone that's available. I've got a color called Western Sunset in my atrium and the orange and peach colors of this stone against our redwood house is really beautiful. It's easy to take care of, no maintenance at all.

Does the water run down hill when it rains straight toward the house? If it's level, you can add a french drain about a foot out from your foundation to catch and divert the water away. If there is a great slope toward your house, you can still do that but it needs to be deeper and further out.

You can add some soil next to the foundation, but personally - I wouldn't. I had a time w/termites this year. Might have happened slab or not, but it's not worth the aggrevation. In NY, you won't be as prone, but termites still happen. Better safe than sorry.

You can PM me if you can't find directions for a french drain on Google.

I'm impressed with your knowledge on this topic. Dag! You girls are awesome!