Thread: Restumping! Advice sought from those in the know.

Don't **** around, call Martin from advanced reblocking specialists on (03) 9689 2704 he's in footscray. Been using him for 15 plus years, he will tell you exactly what needs to happen

Did any of the guys suggest installing adjustable stumps?
Obviously a much smaller job but I recently had to move the hut (about 1m) so took the oportunity to replace the treated pine stumps under with adjustable steel stumps sitting on concrete pads. This was so that I could get rid of the inadequate pine stumps and have the ability to adjust for any future subsidence/movement and thereby maintain a level floor.
Just a thought that may be worth considering. BTW, I'm not a builder and am not sure that this system would comply with your LGA building regulations/code.

Originally Posted by sam_d

Hi all,

(my first post in quite a while and still not LR related)

I need to get my 1950s weatherboard house restumped and have got three people round to look at the job and between them have come up with different solutions and wildly varying prices for the job so I'm asking anyone here who knows about this sort of thing to help me determine the best option.

Essentially, the choice comes down to whether I go with the guy who will remove all the old concrete stumps and replace them with new concrete stumps or go with the guy who will leave the old stumps in place but add new stumps across the property. Is it okay to leave the old stumps in or must they be removed? The two guys had very different views on this.

A third guy has also said that the house has bowed at the edges so will add a large lump on concrete to anchor the middle of the house down as the bow will still be there once everything is lifted and restumped. I can see the reasoning behind this but the two other guys didn't mention this at all.

So, brains trust, can you leave the old stumps in? Must they be removed? Bil ol' lump of concrete going to do anything?

TIA for you help!

BTW, all the people that have been round have got good reputations and reviews across Google, Hipages, Facebook etc so I don't think any of them are shonky.

Thought I'd actually reply to some of your questions now that I'm at home rather than just leaving a recommendation.

For starters it's good that you have gotten at least 3 quotes so far, as your aware restumping can range from 10k to 50k plus.

What exactly is the stumpys plan? Are they only replacing stumps or are they jacking the house back up to level which I assume is the case.

The reason houses sink is generally because the timber stumps have rotted at the bottom, but your saying that you already have concrete stumps so the timber sole plate has rotted away (I doubt there's concrete under them but possible). I'd say after 70 years the base would be nice and firm now and leaving the existing concrete stumps and packing the bearers would definitely be a viable option. The downside is there's no guarantee that it won't keep sinking over the years.
Replacing the stumps is always the best option as they will pour some concrete in the bottom of the hole to act as the sole plate.

Another option is leave the old ones and put new ones in between them and only replace the ones on heavy load bearing points like in the corners and under walls

Regarding the third guys option, 9/10 cases the reason there's a hump in the middle is because all the other stumps have sunk around it and have to come back up.

Do you have a chimney in your house? The hearth should be their datum point and the rest of the house should be jacked up to that level.

Also if the access is good make sure they get under and quote for replacing any bearers or joists that have rotted away also, obviously sometimes they don't have access and foresee this but it should be mentioned to you that this will incur further costs.

I can't recommend Martin enough he's been doing it a long time.

Good luck with it all

Originally Posted by LRJim

Thought I'd actually reply to some of your questions now that I'm at home rather than just leaving a recommendation.

Good luck with it all

Thanks for the reply.

I've actually had 4 quotes but one of those was verbal so I'm not really counting it but it does mean I've had two quotes around $20k and two around $10k.

The main question I'm wanting to know the answer to is what are the benefits of either leaving the old stumps in or removing them? As far as I can tell, removing the old concrete stumps adds about $10k to the cost of the works. But if it wasn't neccesary to remove the stumps, why price to do it? Similiarly, if it is neccesary to remove them, why would two guys suggest leaving them in?

All of the quotes so far have been to jack the house to the level of the hearth and set everything from there so on that front they're all the same. And they've all said that the last restumping that was done (probably around 10 years ago - before we bought this place) was done really quite badly which is why they've all gone to **** now.

Originally Posted by sam_d

Thanks for the reply.

I've actually had 4 quotes but one of those was verbal so I'm not really counting it but it does mean I've had two quotes around $20k and two around $10k.

The main question I'm wanting to know the answer to is what are the benefits of either leaving the old stumps in or removing them? As far as I can tell, removing the old concrete stumps adds about $10k to the cost of the works. But if it wasn't neccesary to remove the stumps, why price to do it? Similiarly, if it is neccesary to remove them, why would two guys suggest leaving them in?

All of the quotes so far have been to jack the house to the level of the hearth and set everything from there so on that front they're all the same. And they've all said that the last restumping that was done (probably around 10 years ago - before we bought this place) was done really quite badly which is why they've all gone to **** now.

Shame about the previous restumping, if done correctly the stumps should last forever. Sounds like the last team didn't clear the holes completely and the left over spoil in the hole has compacted over time.

Regarding leaving the old ones in or not is a bit of a double edged sword, a few scenarios and options would be

1: Replace all old stumps, clean out the holes fully back to solid clay or bedrock, new stumps in, happy days.
(Physically removing the old stumps and old concrete will be a bit of a battle which is costly BUT you have a pre existing hole that just needs cleaning out.

2: Leave all the old stumps except for main load bearing points, install new stumps in between all the others. (Old stumps can stay if they are low enough, only dilemma is that they will have to dig NEW holes all the way down to solid clay/bedrock) which will be a minimum of 600 most likely 800 deep which is difficult under a floor and isn't really cost effective either

3: Replace all main load bearing stumps and pack up all the old stumps (cheapest option but chance of old stumps sinking further)

You should clarify with the guys that want to leave the old ones in place whether they are just putting a few extras in or in between all the others.

Thinking more about your hump, the timber may have a permanent bow from the rest sinking around it. The big lump of concrete with a threaded stump will pull it down, the guys may need to break the timbers back to do this but that's fine still. The hump MAY disappear once the rest of the subfloor has been jacked up.

In all honesty if it was me I'd probably go with option 3 because I'm a tight ass and I'm a builder so I'd happily get back under the house and pack it up if needs be over time.

If you don't want dramas in the future just get it all redone as much as it sucks to pay ( honesty 20k isn't a lot of money in restumping language)

Let us know how you get on

Cheers

I had my weather board house restumped years ago. The old Red Gum stumps had rotted away below ground level. Concrete stumps were what they were being replaced with. One end of the house had dropped some 8 inches.

A big risk in restumping is that the plaster walls will likely crack as the house is moved. At the time all the houses where I live were old weatherboards and all have had or needed restumping. Those restumped houses needed big repairs inside to the walls doe to the jacks lifting the house..

I had a few come to give me quotes but one stood out. It was his jacking practice which won me over. He used way more jacks than the others. When it was time to lift the house he would go to all the jacks and give each one a single pump. Then he would come back to the first jack and repeat the procedure until he got it to where he wanted it. Time consuming and added to his labour charge but it was worth it. I got 2 cracks inside in the walls. Both minor and both only some 8 inches long. No ceiling cracks either.