This photo is a classic example of what happens when soil is piled against wood. This is the side of a garage. The garage, especially an unattached garage, is a common place to find this problem as the structure is often ignored compared to the house. There was a concrete foundation here, be it a shallow one, but soil had been piled against it, over it and up onto the siding. As a result of that, the wood has gone south. If the conducive condition of wood to earth contact had been caught soon enough, before the rot, simply grading the soil back away from the building should have eliminated this kind of damage. As it is now, the siding will have to be replaced and some structural wood, inside the garage, is likely to be a victim as well. 

Thanks for looking.

www.kingofthehouse.com

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham, WA home inspector