# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  Cypress post rot

## MrPhysio

G'day everyone,
My first post, pardon the pun.
We have a 3 year old house/clinic with a mixture of concrete and cypress subfloor posts dug into clay. The site had excavation cuts, leaving some under house and under deck non battered or retained clay banks that can be very wet. We are on the downslope of a hill. I have recently noticed that some of the cypress posts have begun rotting where covered by wet clay, and the clay has white mould on it in places. Digging the clay away shows water pooling fairly quickly.
The builder has seen the rot - stating that the affected stumps need to be chainsawed off to good timber and have gal stirrups cemented into the ground and attached to the stump.The builder also said that most cypress is ok but some stumps are made from the outer part of the tree and the sap wood will rot more quickly - one out of 10 posts supplied. 
Should all the cypress posts be cleared of soil and checked for rot? Should all the cypress posts be set into a concrete surround to keep moisture away from the wood to stop future rot? Should the builder undertake this work, plus ensure proper drainage is attended to stop under house moisture? (There is good under house ventilation.) 
Thanks for any help.
MrPhysio   :Confused:

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## rrobor

I would have the Cypress out and concrete stumps put in. People say Ah but they use wood for piers etc, yes sure but thats salt water not stagnant clay. As to who pays what, dont know, that would be in the contract.

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## MrPhysio

Thanks RRobor,
During building we were told that the majority of the stumps were to be concrete however cypress was to be used for the very long stumps as ? concrete stumps of this length were not readily available. If long stumps are not available in concrete the only option seems to be to cut off the rotted sections and extend with metal into concrete. Am I correct with this thought?
MrPhysio

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## Pulse

gal steel stumps... don't rot, long lengths  
Cheers
Pulse

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## rrobor

Totally agree with Pulse. Or how tough is it to make your own with galvo pipe or square tube in a  long box and fill with concrete. To quote Nelson Mandella on George Bush "That man does not think correctly.

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## MrPhysio

Thanks for the feedback. I'm hoping the builder will fix the problem as he has been good up to this point. Just want to be informed in case suggestions from the builder are not totally accurate.
MrPhysio

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