This is the second build I am doing for someone and I am not to a good start at all. Because of a silly miscalculation, the house was under-exvacated by 2ft and now I lost count on how many nights went by without me being able to sleep. I've built one house before and everything went well without any major issues.

The property sits much lower than the road with there only 1 adjacent property and rests being farmland. At this point, I am not sure what to do.

Option 1 is to raise the grade by 2ft on the front, side, and the back. While visually I may have fixed the problem the elevations of first floor and the whole structure are still off by 2 ft. I can only hope that this goes unnoticed by the client inspector and planning department. I would most likely need to reduce every floor height for it to meet the zoning requirements. Going 1ft lower in the basement may partially solve the problem but it most likely be the end of my involvement in this project. If I grade everything to fool the eye and I am told that this won't pass it will just be more material to take out as I would need a significant amount of soil to raise the front of the property.

Option 2. Tear down the foundation walls, the footings, excavate for needed elevation(at this point I will 100% lose any credibility and relationship with the client), and go back to what I did before.

The build is for someone I know and because of some issues with GC who was supposed to do this, I was asked If I want to take on this project. I've been in the building industry for a while and so far I haven't had any major screw-ups like this so I punish myself every day for taking on this project and making a silly miscalculation.

I know and realize, this is unacceptable and I've put a really bad face on general contractors. I hate myself for this.

If someone has been in the same situation can you shed some light on what would be the best course of action here?