Restumping

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Sinking stumps, sloping floors

Restumping and reblocking

The timber or early concrete stumps holding up a raised floor rot, sink or shear, and the whole house moves with them.

What is actually happening

Most Melbourne homes built before about 1970, and a lot of Adelaide's weatherboards and hills homes, sit on stumps rather than a slab. Red gum stumps last 50-80 years; early concrete ones can crack and lean. When they go the floor drops, walls crack along the plaster joints, doors stop shutting and the bath tilts. Reactive clay makes it worse by heaving and shrinking around the stumps every season.

The signs

  • •Floors that slope or bounce, a marble rolls to one wall
  • •Doors and windows that jam in winter and swing in summer
  • •Diagonal cracks in plaster above door frames
  • •Gaps opening between skirting and floor
  • •Stumps you can push a screwdriver into under the house
The proper fix

Jack the house, remove the failed stumps and set new galvanised steel or concrete stumps on proper footings, then relevel. Partial restumps are possible but usually a false economy: the old stumps left behind fail next. Expect plaster and door adjustments afterwards.

What it costs, South Australia
Restump or reblock (timber floor, 3-bed)$10,000 – $24,000
Render crack repair and patch$600 – $2,500
Internal repaint (3-bed, walls, ceilings, trims)$6,000 – $13,000

Indicative 2026 ranges, not quotes. All costs

When to walk away

Not for stumps alone; it is a known job with a known price. Walk away if the bearers and joists are also rotten (the quote doubles), if the house has been relevelled badly before, or if the vendor will not give access underneath.

Where it turns up

Suburbs in our street DNA set whose era mix and soil make restumping and reblocking a regular. Not a survey; a pattern.

South Australia · 6

BrightonGlenelgGrangeHenley BeachSemaphoreStirling

Victoria · 17

Bentleigh EastBox HillBrightonBrunswickCamberwellCarltonCoburgDandenongEssendonFitzroyFootscrayHawthornPrestonReservoirRichmondSt KildaSunshine

Questions

How long does restumping take?+

A typical 3-bedroom house takes 3-7 days. You can usually stay in the house, though services are disconnected briefly and floors are noisy.

Does restumping need a permit?+

In Victoria, yes: restumping is building work and needs a building permit and a registered builder. In SA it depends on scope; structural work generally needs approval.

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