Many Australian homes have a foundation of wooden stumps but one of the drawbacks is that homes that have been built with wooden stumps often sag over the years. Since strong foundations are the basis of every good home, then the first step is restumping. But how do you know when it is time to restump?

How can you tell if you might need to restump your home?

  • Crooked or jammed doors or window frames
  • Significant plaster cracks
  • Uneven floors
  • If stumps rot evenly, the floors will still remain flat but they will slope away from permanent brick structures like fireplaces.

How to check your stumps

To check, you’ll need to get under the house and scrape the dirt away to between 5 and 10 cms below ground to check the state of the wood. Sometimes only some stumps are rotten, and sometimes stumps aren’t rotten but simply have moved with gravity. It’s best to get an expert to advise you on this, which most restumping and reblocking companies will do as part of the quoting process.

Why do we need to restump?

For many Australian homes, using wooden stumps to support your house was most common. In recent years, concrete stumps have become more popular. The reason why concrete stumps have become so widespread is because wood can only be expected to last between 20 and 80 years depending on the type of timber, soil conditions and other factors like drainage and pests.

The importance of Restumping/Reblocking

This will ensure that your floor and the rest of the building is level. If you need to fix the foundation of your home, it is essential to use a company with experience in restumping houses. Most people want to know what the house restumping costs are. This will vary according to the size of the home and how much room is under the floor.

As damaged or eroded foundations can often cause internal cracks to the structure of the home, there will also be a need to renovate the inside of the building. Restumping is something that should be undertaken prior to any renovations commencing. Restumping is an investment in your property and is worth doing professionally as it is a difficult job even for the experienced handyman, but it will last another lifetime. Having this work done properly will not only add value to your home, but will provide peace of mind for you.