Your best bet is to have a residential structural engineer do a site visit and a soil test. As the home is only 10 years old, it is normal to have some settlement and additional settlement after 10 years should be minor. The fact you are concerned of future settlement should be a red flag. Additionally, you are concerned about moisture. Two red flags. It is your choice, but buyer beware. Best of luck.

Leather sofas can really dominate the room and can give an overall cold feeling. I would add some earthy elements, like a wood coffee table with glass or metal. Go to Restoration Hardware's website and look at their sofa room scenes. And I'm sorry I think the art is too harsh for the room. That's all your eye goes to in the room. too overpowering. I would look for something softer or maybe a cool mirror and I would add color to the room with pillows and some colorful lamps. I also think woven blinds would look great. They add warmth and give a finished look. The color of your window treatments should contrast your wall color a bit, not match it or else it starts to look generic and blah.. You have warm walls, warm floors and the woven blinds, like Hunter Douglas brand would pull it all together for you.

cool --but you can see the entire floor has been raised--do you have the ceiling height? a closet 'step up' would be less of a structural commitment, OR a buildup under builtin furniture--like bookcases flanking a fireplace, also some great ideas on HOUZZ i'd never have thought of. sorry i'm not tech-ie enough to paste the site:) of course if you go 'structural' --all walls and ceilings are fair game as well. remember that ease of access [or lack thereof] can affect stealth mode greatly--as in your pic: every time you step onto the 'box' in your pic you would hear a 'different' sound.

Yes Sir, I have lot of suggestions for this dilemma of yours. However explaining in technical words might get you confused so I am going to send you some reference pictures later for this. - Layden Wangmo [senior design consultant] MAD DESIGN