# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  What material to use for packing brick piers?

## DanTheBeeMan

Hi Folks, I'm doing some work on a 1935 Californian Bungalow my wife and I purchased in Ballarat recently. One thing I'm doing is levelling out the floor a little. The previous owner did some levelling but he didn't have the benefit of the plaster off the walls to level it in one run across the whole width of the house (the area I'm working on is only 10m x 5m). There a fair bit of variation in the floor at the moment - attached is the plan. At the moment I'm trying to figure out if the high point (the 0mm measurement on the plan) is genuine or whether it's due to moisture retention in clay soil lifting that side of the house  (I'd love any advice on how to determine that - and also to determine if my soil is actually clay or sandy loam/alluvial soil). At the moment it seems that a brick wall on the opposite side of the house is 27mm - 30mm lower than the high point but I'm trying to verify if that wall has actually sunk.  
In in any case, what do people use/recommend to pack brick piers? The house isn't on timber stumps they're actual brick piers. The previous owner used Fibro cement sheet in varying thicknesses. Any advice?

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## DanTheBeeMan

Could plastic tilt panel packers be used? They seem to come in a good range of thicknesses from 1mm - 20mm

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## OBBob

Fibre cement is common for packing stumps up. Packing 30mm is fairly significant, I think it's suggested not to pack more than 20mm on a new build ... but I guess yours is s slightly different situation.  :Smilie:  There are also plastic versions (as you said) and some are rated for construction loads.    Plastic Packers/Shims

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## DanTheBeeMan

Thanks OBBob... There's already some packing on some piers so I'm thinking about putting another row of bricks on top of the piers that have sufficient gap to try and keep that packer height down

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## OBBob

So I read your user name as Dan The Beer Man ... having now re-read it, do you keep bees or did you drop and 'r'?  :Smilie:  I like the idea of keep in bees.

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## DanTheBeeMan

> So I read your user name as Dan The Beer Man ... having now re-read it, do you keep bees or did you drop and 'r'?  I like the idea of keep in bees.

  hhaha nice  And no, there's no missed 
enter there... I do keep bees - I do ducational courses, mentoring etc... It's a small business I run in addition to my "day job"

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## OBBob

> hhaha nice  And no, there's no missed 
> enter there... I do keep bees - I do ducational courses, mentoring etc... It's a small business I run in addition to my "day job"

  Nice, I'm a big fan of Melbourne Roof Top Honey and my wife has done a course with them.

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## DanTheBeeMan

> There are also plastic versions (as you said) and some are rated for construction loads.    Plastic Packers/Shims

  if only there was a place I didn't have to buy $432 worth of packers to get varying thicknesses to pack a few piers lol... Can't buy them in small pack sizes apparently  :Frown:

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## Optimus

http://www.psa.com.au/plastic-packing 
Just a random link of what to use.. 
I have a guy in Melbourne who makes them.. he is very cheap compared to what you pay off the net. 
But we buy 1000s a a time... he makes anything up to 40mm

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## DanTheBeeMan

> Nice, I'm a big fan of Melbourne Roof Top Honey and my wife has done a course with them.

  Awesome! I'm currently based in Melbourne - at least while I fix up our house in Ballarat! If you're interested in getting your own beehive drop me a message - more than happy to help out

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## DanTheBeeMan

> http://www.psa.com.au/plastic-packing

  Thanks Optimus, touched base with them and they're the mob that require me to buy 200 per bag minimum of the smaller thicknesses... Was going to cost me $470  :Frown:

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## OBBob

> if only there was a place I didn't have to buy $432 worth of packers to get varying thicknesses to pack a few piers lol... Can't buy them in small pack sizes apparently

  Ah yes, that was the conclusion I came to when I was looking around. I didn't end up having to pack very much (which was nice) but I used some off cuts of fibre cement and some Pryda nail plates for very fine adjustment.    https://www.bunnings.com.au/pryda-75...plate_p2430022

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## Optimus

Where in Melbourne are you based?

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## OBBob

> Where in Melbourne are you based?

  Are you talking to me?  :Smilie:  Northcote. The OP is in Ballarat.

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## Optimus

Sorry i meant the op, he says he is based in Melbourne

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## OBBob

> Sorry i meant the op, he says he is based in Melbourne

  Ah, I missed that and it was directed at me!  :Smilie:  Thanks.

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## DanTheBeeMan

> Where in Melbourne are you based?

  Im in Sydenham at the moment - the house is in Ballarat - you wouldn't be interested in selling any that you get made up would you?  :Smilie:

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## Optimus

I can give you the blokes number who makes them and you can go pick them up.. he's in knox though

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## Optimus

0419578460 his name is max

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## DanTheBeeMan

> 0419578460 his name is max

    Thanks mate, appreciate it! Should I tell him Optimus sent me  :Cool:  and does he refer to them by a particular product name? would he let me buy 50 or so of each size or does he have MOQ? I'm hoping he has stock because, ideally, I'd like to pick them up this afternoon or tomorrow morning so I can lift over the weekend.

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## Optimus

Haha nah he wont know "optimus" just say a guy you know who is a restumper.. 
Just called plastic packers..  
You can buy whatever you want

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## OBBob

> Haha nah he wont know "optimus" just say a guy you know who is a restumper..

  LOL ... do you know Optimus ...

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## havabeer

> I do keep bees - I do ducational courses, mentoring etc... It's a small business I run in addition to my "day job"

  i wish i had of known this last week, was just down in melbourne and my wife is super keen (for what ever reason) on getting a hive of native bee's would have been great to have someone show her the ropes. 
packing wise, just buy the plastic packers or depending on how loose your purse strings are you could get some steel shims/off cuts to use as well

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## toooldforthis

> What material to use for packing brick piers?

  duh, thought that's what all those broken asbestos bits were for...

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## DanTheBeeMan

> duh, thought that's what all those broken asbestos bits were for...

  lol good thing I took to my asbestos garage with an angle grinder the other day  :Wink:  plenty off cuts now... (Yes, that was a joke) 
i ended u getting some packers from Optimus contact... Only thing is they're horseshoe packers so am wondering how they will go with brick piers when there's no rod through the centre... The bearers are literally sitting on top of the long face of two bricks. I figure the horseshoe packers will give enough support - I just have to make sure have them square to the direction of the bearer and if I have to stack any make sure they're sitting properly before I lower the bearer completely.

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## Optimus

As per pm, the weight of the house holds them down.. people tend to over complicate things here

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## DanTheBeeMan

> As per pm, the weight of the house holds them down.. people tend to over complicate things here

  Thanks mate! Seems I over think things too  :Wink:  really appreciate the advice and the pm! Thank you

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