Underpinning
Where a brick or concrete footing has dropped, we excavate beneath it and pour new piers down to stable ground, transferring the load off the reactive clay that caused the movement.
- Licensed builders, fully insured
- Every postcode in Victoria
- 10 year guarantee
Underpinning is for houses on a continuous footing rather than stumps, typically brick veneer and double brick. When the clay under one part of the footing shrinks in a dry summer or swells after a wet winter, that section moves and the wall above it cracks. Patching the crack does nothing, because the cause is under the ground.
We excavate in sequenced bays beneath the existing footing, take each pier down past the reactive layer to ground that will not move, and pour it so the new pier picks up the load. The sequencing matters: only a small length of footing is ever unsupported at one time, which is what keeps the wall standing while the work happens.
Most underpinning jobs in Victoria are driven by the same few things. A long dry spell, a leaking stormwater or sewer line, a large tree drawing moisture out of one side of the house, or a slab extension that was never tied in properly. Part of the inspection is working out which of those it is, because if the cause is still active the repair needs to account for it.
Where we do this work
Nationwide Restumping covers every postcode in Victoria. Most of our work is Melbourne metro, but regional jobs are routine rather than an exception: Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Shepparton, Mornington Peninsula, Gippsland and the towns between them. Regional travel is not loaded onto the quote as a premium.
Everything above is general. What your house needs is decided by what one of our crews finds under the floor, which is why the inspection comes before the number.
Get a written quote for underpinning
One of our crews comes out, gets under the house where there is access, and tells you what it needs. Free, and no obligation afterwards.