Question regarding floor re-levelling/ restumping/ jack & pack

[reachjatt]

I am posting this with bit of hope that someone here knows someone or even better does it for living. We are looking at floor re-levelling options for our 25ish year old house in Melbourne South east. Most area's are in OK condition(by that i mean door and windows shut OK) However, some need urgent attention before things start following apart (god help us if that happens cos that means out goes any progress on my series Landy:()

Details on the flooring and support structure: Chipboard flooring can easily be removed from the top (interior of the house). Possible work required on joists and bearer as some of the timber bearers and joists have separated due to stumps dropping. (This may be due to soil movement as i can't see any sign of water underneath the house see attached photo's). Being a trussed roof i don't see stumps supporting much of roof weight although this means

Area size that require attention: 15 squares (approx)
Foundation Type: Concrete Strip Foundations, Concrete stumps
Flooring - Chipboard with carpet and tile (I personal hate :mad: carpet and would love to get timber or me being poor even laminate flooring)
Walls Internal: Plaster
Walls External: Brick veneer
Roof: Concrete roof tiles
Slope of Land: Gentle sloping from the front to back
Access under the house: 2 to 3ft.

Also, i have taken some quotes in the hope it will narrow down what $ figure i was looking at. However this got me into more thinking and left me bit perplexed.:angel:

Regards,
Nav

[simmo]

Can you get underneath ok with a 5 ton hydraulic jack?
If yes its a do it yourself jobby , no problems. cheers simmo.

[simmo]

sorry didn't read the full story, but 2-3 foot of access is plenty, you can do it your self. I'm going out for dinner soon so short of time, can provide more info later.
If you have a good jack, ( I used my one for the land rover and my trolley jack) and a long level, cut up some masonite or fibro packers the size of the stump tops. all houses settle a little as they age, it's not a problem. cheers simmo.:)

[reachjatt]

sorry didn't read the full story, but 2-3 foot of access is plenty, you can do it your self. I'm going out for dinner soon so short of time, can provide more info later.
If you have a good jack, ( I used my one for the land rover and my trolley jack) and a long level, cut up some masonite or fibro packers the size of the stump tops. all houses settle a little as they age, it's not a problem. cheers simmo.:)

Hi Simmo,
As much as i like to do it myself it seems bit of a task specially considering some part of sub flooring will also require attention.
Let's see if i get any leads.
Regards,
Nav

[JDNSW]

Unless there is rot, termites etc in the joists and bearers, it is unlikely that significant work will be needed on the timber work - joints will be open due to uneven subsidence of the stumps, but would normally close up when the supports are levelled properly. Even fractured timbers, if there are any can usually have a reinforcing timber bolted to the side of them, extending at least between two bearers or stumps.

As simmo says, it is a feasible d-i-y job provided you have a bit of time and are reasonably fit. But probably a good few hours of dirty, hard work. On the other hand, if you get someone to do it, they will want to be paid handsomely for this sort of work, even though they will almost certainly spend a lot less time doing it - they will have better equipment and know exactly what they are doing.

John

[clive22]

Hi

Its do-able but hard, as a DYI but you'll need a two for some things.

You've really gotta look closely get a good idea of whats gone on. And what do you want level floor or is it bouncing? Probably due to the stumps no longer transferring the load to the founding soil properly.

Has the soil settled as you say? Almost certainly not unless on fill. A stump on a very lightly loaded suspended timber floor won't settle, but the soil it will change volume due to changes in moisture content and this will disrupt these flyweight floors. Under the house dry after the house is built leading to this.

What's the soil type? Clay or sand? SE suburbs of Melbourne are normally sand. How deep are the stumps founded houses built before the 90s on supposed stable soils are only down 450mm - too shallow.

Use a water level and find if the floor has settled and by how much. across each room mark levels on a house plan. Test for bouncy floors

Is the stump hanging off the floor as the soil has shrunk down? If so I would replace the stumps with a longer more deeply founded ones after jacking the floors.

Without an inspection hard to be definitive, but with good access and possibly easily worked floors I would be tending to replace the stumps with longer stumps- 700mm into the soil min.This is a must do if the stumps are 'hanging', you don't have enough weight on 'em otherwise.

Packing will work, but will struggle to contain bounce, and the problem may come back. May be packing and adding some deeper joists e/side may be a middle ground.



Clive