# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  Stumps

## Bluegum

the other day while grabing some stuff from under neather the house I noticed a stump has cracked pretty badly across the base.  Add this to 3 more along the front of as well. I called a stumper for an idea and yes we need 5 new stumps rather than 4 .  A total of $5500 plus another 1500 for a level. I called around to find another company who could do the whole job for for $3000.  We have never had any thing to do with re-stumping ( although the procedures have been explained to me) and I thought I would throw it out to the forum to ask opinions and thoughts.  I do that you get what you pay for but there seems to be a hell of a difference in prices between the two companies involved.  Any ideas welcome

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## bugsy

> the other day while grabing some stuff from under neather the house I noticed a stump has cracked pretty badly across the base.  Add this to 3 more along the front of as well. I called a stumper for an idea and yes we need 5 new stumps rather than 4 .  A total of $5500 plus another 1500 for a level. I called around to find another company who could do the whole job for for $3000.  We have never had any thing to do with re-stumping ( although the procedures have been explained to me) and I thought I would throw it out to the forum to ask opinions and thoughts.  I do that you get what you pay for but there seems to be a hell of a difference in prices between the two companies involved.  Any ideas welcome

  5 new stumps will cost $3000?
you were underneath the house so i guess there is plenty of room.
is your house overly high underneath?
that sounds like alot of money. 
but thats without knowing what is involved or material used

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## Gooner

I had the same thought. Over $1000 per stump?  The leveling is something different. Does it need it? Is the house badly out of level? 
I remember I had someone come and have a look at a couple of my stumps that had "concrete cancer". I..e the concrete was cracking due to the steel core rusting. I believe it was around $500 per stump to replace.

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## president_ltd

must be expensive stumps up there in the north! 
down here in Vic, restumped entire house (replaced all Red Gum stumps with Concrete), approx. 60 stumps all up, ranging from ~800mm to ~1600mm stumps. 
bugger of a job.
took two blokes about 3.5 days 9 hours/day +  probably ~5 m3 of concrete + relevelling + painful in many places of the house with minimal access, total cost ~18 months ago was $3800 from memory, certainly <$4K.

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## Bluegum

> 5 new stumps will cost $3000?
> you were underneath the house so i guess there is plenty of room.
> is your house overly high underneath?
> that sounds like alot of money. 
> but thats without knowing what is involved or material used

  House is 600mm off the ground at the front and about 1000mm at the rear.  Concrete stumps to go back in to the place.  Second quote was was $380 per stump and $1k for the house level.  This is what I found to be really confusing between the two prices. First quote broke down to be about $1100 per stump and then 1500 for the level.  On top of that the contractor also has written into his quote thay they accept no responsibilty for damage to services conected to the house as well.  I don't think he will be getting my business.

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## president_ltd

> House is 600mm off the ground at the front and about 1000mm at the rear.  Concrete stumps to go back in to the place.  Second quote was was $380 per stump and $1k for the house level.  This is what I found to be really confusing between the two prices. First quote broke down to be about $1100 per stump and then 1500 for the level.  On top of that the contractor also has written into his quote thay they accept no responsibilty for damage to services conected to the house as well.  I don't think he will be getting my business.

  i think you're being taken for a ride!
i'm guessing they must have so much work on that they can't be bothered unless its worth their while. 
i could ask our bloke if he wants a holiday for a week up in queensland.  i figure if you paid him for his time/effort & materials used + airfare for him & his offsider from melbourne, it'd still be cheaper than that!

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## phillta

> bugger of a job.
> took two blokes about 3.5 days 9 hours/day + probably ~5 m3 of concrete + relevelling + painful in many places of the house with minimal access, total cost ~18 months ago was $3800 from memory, certainly <$4K.

  Crikey. We're paying ~$6.5k for a similar job, and that was at the lower end of quotes. 
I agree with what others have said. $3k for five stumps sounds outrageous.

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## lottahardwork

Agree that it is an outrageous cost. You are paying mostly for labour of course as the materials for restumping are pretty cheap - the stumps might be less than $10 each depending on size and the other cost is concrete. In Vic, 1/3 of the stump needs to be below ground, with 100mm space under the bottom and on each side. While you need to be careful about not having the house drop on you, it is not rocket science to replace a few stumps, just not so much fun - but with 600-1000mm clearance it could be worse. Worth considering doing yourself. 
You can get great heavy duty jacks on ebay really cheaply. I think in the olden days they used to do levels with the low-tech water-in-the-hose method - so if most of your house is level, that should work fine. Restumping seems daunting but as long as you are really thoughtful about safety, it is well within the realm of DIY. You may or may not want to check with council if you need any permits but I suspect you might not if it is only five stumps.

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## mungo

G'day Pres.
We need a top quality restumper for a 43 square, old weatherboard house on ~ 750mm stumps. Any leads?? Much appreciated.
Mungo

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## PVS

We get the keys to our house next week and the first thing we will do is re-stump it. I haven't started ringing around yet but from what I have heard from friends the average cost for restumping an entire 3 bed house is around 4k-5k, keeping in mind this is Melbourne though! 
I would try to get some recommendations and try a couple of more quotes for sure, that is a massive difference!! 
president_ltd would you mind sharing the details of the mob that did your restumping? Even via pm if you dont want to post here...would love to give him a ring and ask him to quote our house (we are around 9km from CBD on northern side of Melbourne). 
Thanks muchly!  :Biggrin:

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## Moondog55

We paid 8K for our 3-BR in Norlane, but that was 86 stumps plus a couple extra stumps under the bathroom and replacing 8.2M of bearer. House is now level and all the doors and windows close
Our bloke said ball park figure is $100- a stump

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## Cecile

> We paid 8K for our 3-BR in Norlane, but that was 86 stumps plus a couple extra stumps under the bathroom and replacing 8.2M of bearer. House is now level and all the doors and windows close
> Our bloke said ball park figure is $100- a stump

  PVS 
we paid $8200 actually, plus another $200 for the bearer.  took four guys close to two weeks.  they were very competent and thorough, money well spent.  plus, there wasn't a lot of clearance. 
if you want any details, PM me or Moondog and we can refer you...the restumper is on the bellarine peninsula but he does travel a bit

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## dangermouse1598

We live in NW NSW... very north west!  We threw $30,000 cash on the table to get our 100 year old house re-stumped and couldn't even get someone to quote!!  We're doing it our selves for about $8000 using hot dipped gal posts with adjustable heads.  That money included buying a gasless mig for hubby.  It's taking an age but we'll get there in the end.  We can't level our place, it was re-roofed in the droopy position so if we try levelling it, the roof pops off and the lath/plaster will fall off the walls.  Well I think all the crooked bits add character.
With some of the prices I'm reading here I might hire out my hubby at $200 per stump, he comes with a natty mig welder  :Biggrin:

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## Moondog55

Is he the bloke selling steel stumps on *Bay?????

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## president_ltd

> president_ltd would you mind sharing the details of the mob that did your restumping? Even via pm if you dont want to post here...would love to give him a ring and ask him to quote our house (we are around 9km from CBD on northern side of Melbourne).

  Jim's Reblocking, based out of Oakleigh VIC i think? 
great guy Jim, he's quite tall, its amazing he can get into the places he can.  
cheers.

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## trudi

my partner and i looking at buyin our first home, the house that we are looking at needs restumping and new bearers, i have been told that we cant live in t he house while its being done and the cost is massive. any advice on what we should do,  :Yikes2:

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## Bloss

> my partner and i looking at buyin our first home, the house that we are looking at needs restumping and new bearers, i have been told that we cant live in t he house while its being done and the cost is massive. any advice on what we should do,

  Look for another houses? But if you really like that one then you need to get a couple of quotes for the job and then make sure at least that amount is deducted from the quoted sale price. If it is being auctioned then the price on the day should included that deduction unless some bidders are unaware that the work needs doing (the buyer is obliged by law in most states to make people aware of anything such as that which would affect the price).

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## PVS

Just thought I'd give an update - I tried calling Jim from Oakleigh (president_ltd's) referral, but the lady that answered said our house was too far for him to come out  :Frown:  (Pascoe Vale South).I have heard things about another guy from Advanced Reblocking, his name is Martin and apparantley he is so good he hasn't advertised in 15 years!!  He is coming out on Thursday so will see how he goes.In the meantime, are there any other recommendations for the northern end of Melbourne??

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## dielito

Hi, Just wondering who you ended up going with and if you were happy with their work? Just bought a house and it needs doing, Archicentre have recommended concrete... I'm new to all of this!

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## Steffen595

its cheaper per stump if you do the whole house. Lower end was $5000 for 90-100 stumps at our place. He took 5 min to do the quoute. Upper end was 10k.

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## mark53

G'day Blue Gum. I'm doing my house at the moment, 48 squ. 140 + stumps 110 years old. Down hear steel is the go 90x90x3.2 gal. I had quotes to $36,000 plus extras after I sacked the first bloke. Decided to do the job myself along with a builder who I contracted to provide tech. assistance. Sofar so good. Bought a few tools, jacks etc and am learning a lot. Prices for restumping I have found are exteamely variable. If you decide to do it yourself , give me call, I may be able to help. Regards Mark.

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## lisa whyte

HI PVS, Did you end up using Martin? If so, do you have any feedback? I spoke with him earlier today and am also organsising a quote. Good to hear about others experiences  :Smilie:

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## lisa whyte

Hi there, Was just wondering if you would be happy to pass on the details of your stumper? We live in Altona melbourne  :Smilie:

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## watson

Lisa,
Maybe PM Moondog as his bloke is on that side of town.

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## Moondog55

*Arkle & Co Reblockers*  *             House Restumping, Reblocking or Raising              - Drysdale, VIC        *  
               	         	            56 Whitcombes Rd, Drysdale VIC 3222, Australia 	             	         (03) 5253 1977

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## lisa whyte

Thankyou!! Much appreciated

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## Optimus

hi all, long time listener first time poster  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:   
I havejust been reading through this topic and it seems some people need a restumper, well im your man  :2thumbsup:  
I live in the eastern suburbs of melbourne but i work all over, let me know if i can be of any help

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## watson

G'day Optimus.
That's an old thread, so you might get more joy putting a post into the Members' Businesses forum.

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