# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  Slab v's Timber

## askaholic

Open ended question, but is it cheaper to build a Timber sub floor on concrete stumps compared to a Concrete Slab. For a single story 18sq home on flat land. Any and All Feedback appreciated. Cheers

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## Bedford

If you do it with sheet flooring, probably half the price.

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## dib

If you are going to do the stumps yourself then stumps are cheaper. Payiing someone to put the stumps in etc worked about the same price quoted  as a slab.  I put the stumps in myself etc and so it worked out much cheaper.

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## wombat200

Ultimately, it will depend what you find under the ground when you start digging...... 
What do I mean? 
Well, my extension is stump floor, brick veneer layed on 500 deep (300w) concrete strip footings. Easy & cheap - yes? 
Yes - until we found the old septic tank & grease traps under the old sunroom paving slab..... Right where the footing needs to go..... 
Although we are proceeding with strip footings & stumps, in the area of the septic, our footings are now about 1700 deep & 1m wide, plus adding the cost of removing the tank, engineering advice, extra concrete, etc, has brought the cost up to roughly the same price as a slab.... 
You need to take into account any rock you might find, or unstable ground, etc - this can only be confirmed once you start digging..... Then watch the costs add up.... My original cost for excavation & strip footings, poured, is probably going to triple... And that's still with me doing the stumps.....

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## barney118

Depends on your definition of cheaper...Look at total cost and time are you planning to DIY any of it, Its easier to have a bobcat clear a patch and dig a trench for footings. While they are at it they can dig for the plumbing/gas etc. Then the concretor finishes off. initial cost may be higher but the foundations done right is where it pays off in the end. Frames go up etc, 
With stumping no issues bit cheaper, find a bit harder (gettting levels right over a number of stumps/ piers....time = more costs). Stumps will have to be off the ground to allow ventilation/access potential problems bugs/damp etc
Add up how much a floor will set you back with timber sub floor, I cant see it being much cheaper.

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## ringtail

Definitely cheaper and miles better than building on the ground. If we were meant to live on the ground we would all be termites. Everthing is easier and cheaper. Cheaper plumbing, cheaper electrical, cheaper pest management. You still have to put floor covering over the slab so the floor cost is largely irrelevant. Its dead easy to set up multiple posts with a laser, you can bolt the bearers to steel posts and hang them in the post holes at the correct height and pump the concrete - easy. You will never have to worry about a dodgy slab cracking and heaving, termites will never be an issue as you can inspect every millimetre of the subfloor and an added bonus is you get to store crap under the house. Make it about 800 mm of the ground for easy access under and good ventilation. My 2 cents.

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