# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  Rusted Stumps/Supports

## jgraham

G'Day Renovate Forum, 
I have galv steel stumps on my home and they are starting to rust at the base were they enter the concrete, one of which is really quite bad. I live in North Qld so it tends to be fairly (very) humid and wet this time of year. 
I am looking for some advice on the best way forward to repair the bad stump/support and prevent the others from getting worse.  
Here's what I'm thinking of doing: 
For the really bad support, 
Carefully grind out and clean away the rusted area.
Reinforce by welding some steel plate, clean up and seal.
Pin the concrete base with 20 -25 mm rio' bar.
Form up and concrete to above the affected area. 
As for the other stumps /supports I was thinking of just cleaning away the rust. sealing and concreteing above the affected area (and possibly pin). 
if anyone can give some advice it would must appreciated.

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## SilentButDeadly

Unless they are (or nearly) holed....do nothing.  Apart from clean the damaged areas (using wire brush or brush on a grinder) and treat with ColdGal or similar. 
Raising up the concrete will do nothing useful and in fact could make it worse as it is the concrete that is providing the moisture that aids the oxidation process. 
The other trick is to manage your underfloor area in such a way that prevents rainwater and other surface water from accessing your underfloor....to the point of employing a strip drain right around the house.

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