Questions we get asked every week

Cost comes down to the number of stumps, the stump material, how much access there is, and whether the floors need relevelling as well. A small weatherboard cottage with good access is a very different job to a large home on a sloping block with a metre of crawl space. That is why we inspect first and then quote a fixed figure in writing, rather than quoting a per-stump rate over the phone that changes once we are on site.

Yes. Restumping and underpinning are building works in Victoria and need a building permit, and underpinning also needs engineering design. Only a registered builder can take out that permit. We arrange the permit and the engineering as part of the job.

Most restumps run from about a week to a fortnight on site, depending on the size of the house, the number of stumps and how much access there is underneath. Underpinning is usually longer because each pier is excavated and poured in sequence and the concrete needs time.

In most cases yes. The house is jacked in stages rather than all at once, so it stays liveable. You will hear it, and there will be days where water or power is briefly off while a service is worked around. Where a house needs a large lift we will tell you up front if moving out for part of the job is the better option.

Concrete suits most homes and is what we use by default. Galvanised steel is the better answer where the crawl space is shallow, where access will not take a concrete stump in one piece, or where the ground is aggressive. Both will outlast the timber they replace by decades. The inspection determines which the house actually needs.

Restumping stops the movement that is causing the cracks. It does not close them. Once the house is back on a stable level base and has had time to settle, the cracks are patched and repainted as a separate cosmetic step. Patching before the structural work is done is wasted money, because the crack will reopen.

We cover every postcode in Victoria. Melbourne metro, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, the Mornington Peninsula, Gippsland and regional Victoria generally.

It covers the work we carry out: the stumps we install and the footings we set them on, for ten years from completion. It does not cover new movement caused by something outside the work, such as a burst water main or a new tree planted hard against the footing, which is why the inspection report records drainage and site conditions in the first place.

We do partial restumps where that is genuinely the right answer, which is usually when one side of the house or one section under a wet area has failed and the rest is sound. Once most of the stumps are at end of life a partial is false economy, because the stumps left in place are the next job. The inspection is what decides it.

Restumping replaces the stumps the house sits on. Underpinning goes further down and extends or replaces the footings themselves, taking them to stable ground, and it is what you need when the problem is the ground rather than the stumps. Underpinning requires engineering design as well as a building permit, so it is a longer and more involved job.

No. The on-site inspection and the written quote are free and there is no obligation afterwards. A paid report is a different product: a pre-purchase subfloor inspection for a house you are buying is a written report you own, and that is quoted separately.

Footings have to be excavated, so there is spoil and there is traffic along the access route. We work to keep it to the access path and we tell you up front where plants, paving or a shed are going to be in the way. Gardens right against the affected wall are the usual casualty, and it is better to hear that at quote stage than on day one.

Sooner than most, because we run five crews rather than one. Lead time still depends on the permit, which is outside our control, and on how the engineering comes back if the job is an underpin. We will give you a realistic start window with the quote rather than an optimistic one.

Yes. Restumping and underpinning are building works in Victoria and need a permit that only a registered builder can take out. We arrange the permit, the engineering where underpinning is involved, and the inspections, as part of the job.

Yes, and it is a common situation. The original part of the house on stumps and the slab addition move independently, which is often exactly why the join between them has cracked. The stumped section is restumped and relevelled to suit the slab, and we tell you in the quote what will happen at the junction.