# Forum Home Renovation Sub Flooring  Restumping

## xer

Hello, 
I am considering restumping my house and would like to have a crack at it myself and save some money. The house is elevated on land sloping upwards to the rear of the property. I can gain access to the majority of the stumps from underneath. Can anyone give me advice on restumping and/or a website giving advise on this. All pros and cons are greatly appreciated. Thankyou, Bob

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## journeyman Mick

Bob, 
Pros: 
save some money
have a lot of fun!(NOT :mad: )
sense of achevement 
Cons:
Dirty
Hard work
Dirty hard work
hard dirty work
dirty work
you get the idea 
You'll need a level of some sort, laser, dumpy or water level(length of plastic tube filled with water) a spirit level won't do. You may need to cut down some shovels also depending on head height. A sled of some type can also be helpful to drag the spoil out from under the house, and later to drag the concrete under. A couple of bits of ply with some tin nailed on to make a sled shaped box will suffice. This will save you from trying to drag a bucket with you while crawling. You'll want to lay in a good supply of alcohol to be consumed at the end of each day as you will never have deserved it as much in your life. Oh, and did I mention it was dirty work? Good luck, 
Mick

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## seriph1

no state - no city - no suburb - no way to advise at this time other than to say good luck and call in ALLLLLL your favours from your mates! The worst job I have ever done by far..... couldnt get my wallet out quick enough the second time

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## xer

Yikes. Thanks for the input. Maybe I should get some quotes. What is the going rate per Sq. in Melb. Can anyone reccomend some quality restumping companies. Thanks, Bob

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## seriph1

ok - youre in Melbourne: there are many different soil types throughout the region as well as a large number of area-specific contractors, so please let the group know what suburb you are in 
cheers

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## xer

I'm in Oak Park, (between Strathmore and Glenroy). Thankyou

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## Paul Mac

I think it is a very good idea to get a pro to do it and it looks like you may head down that path. I live in South Australia and have had my house restumped.
A team of about 8 guys rocked up and the job was done in 2 and a half days. but there was lots of room for them to work.
The house needed a bit of leveling aswell and when this happens, doors might not shut properly and cracks may appear in walls, all things I wouldn't of thought of if I did it myself.
The team made sure all doors worked and fixed up the cracks.
The best thing I ever did was pay for a pro.
If I didn't, I would still be under the floor somewhere.
Good Luck.

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## charlie

Hey mate dont be turned off by some of those blokes,it is hard dirty work but you can save yourself a packet of money doing it yourself,I just stated my second house and this one is a fair size and all the floors have to come up for it to be done,I started last friday,its gonna take me around 2 months to do this place,but we have badly bowed walls also so I'll be sraightening all the walls on the house also,a bloke in town got a quote to do a house like mine lately,it had to be done from inside also,apparently they quoted around $20,000,floors up,floors down,all cracks fixed and painted also,our last house I done also,but that one I could do from underneath,harder work but easier then lifting all the floors,that house was a victorian cottage,3 bedrooms,all up it cost me around $1500 in materials,I would say a stumper would have charged probably around $6000,if it is out of shape a fair bit I would say maybe think about getting someone else to do it,but if it is reasonably level I'd say do it yourself,I think doing it yourself you can spend a bit more time then the stumpers on areas that are out of level,I'm also working on the house full time so that does make it a bit easier,if you do decide to do it yourself I'll pass on a few tips,you dont have to be mixing concrete and dragging it under the house in buckets,I use bags of rapid set,make hole deeper by a few inches then needs to be,after your stump is level,put hole in bag,pour in concrete,not alot,then bring stump up to level,you might have around 1/4 to 1/3 of stump covered in dry concrete now,make sure its level,then put the hose in the hole and give it a good soaking,a few minutes later fill the rest of the hole with concrete and soak again,I like to make sure that concrete on the bottom gets wet thats why I do it in 2 quick stages,digging deeper and getting 3 to 4 inches of concrete under that stump will nearly guarrantee you will never have any problems with sinking. 
regards charlie

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## ozwinner

> _Originally posted by xer_  *I'm in Oak Park, (between Strathmore and Glenroy). Thankyou*

  Theres a big loam belt that goes right through Oak Park.
You might be lucky.
If you are outside this loam belt, it turns to sticky gooie clay.
Go and check the soil type. 
Cheers, Al

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## xer

Yes, The property is clay.

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## seriph1

be aware then that restumping will definitely help a lot but will not totally eradicate the home's movement as the clay will expand and contract based on its moisture content....  
Try your local paper for restumpers and then when you feel relatively confident of one or two, ask them for references - if they are willing you have your man as it were. 
good luck with it!

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## maksta17

Hey Charlie 
I am just about to try this myself on an old weather board we purchased, just wanted to know what size jacks you used and wheather I need one per stump? house is about 11 Sq with a tin roof. 
Also how long did you let the concrete set before removing the jacks? how did you go about digging out the old stumps. 
Thanks Charlie
Regards
Maksta

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## Eastie

Also, if the bearers have dropped along the load bearing walls and you're real keen to get it all nice and level and do it properly with jacks to lift and level either half or the whole house at once you'd want to have a pretty good idea about jacking, proping, wind loadings and bracing. All of these relate to the possibility of it falling (not a great problem if the floors are level and you only replace a couple of stumps at a time) One in a million but every now and then a restumper is squashed somewhere in oz because of dodgey work methods.

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## Wood Butcher

I helped a mate do his house two years ago. He did two stumps at a time using adjustable stumps. That way we did not have to have the levels perfect cause after we went around the house and tweaked all of the stumps so that the house was right.  
NB. We did set the stumps up as close as possible in the first case, I think it was +/- 10mm.

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## seriph1

For what its worth, I have restumped one house myself - I am now cured.    :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  :Biggrin:  
I would love to have this one lifted, but I still recall what a pig of a job it was, and can't afford 6-8K for someone else to do it so ..........  
Have fun! (if that is at all possible doing a restump) - I hope the home is a metre off the ground at least - it makes it easier to crawl away from the spiders etc.

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## Pulse

Just be careful about rapid set concrete - it is not structural.   
Hope things go OK, What about pumping the concrete under? 
Pulse

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## ausdesign

XER I don't want to be the one to put the kybosh on restumping your home, but if your thinking of doing more than a few stumps then I'd give it a miss and call in the restumpers. DIY is a great way to go - except with stumps. 
Being structural you'll need to get a permit. If you do the whole lot in one go your'e looking at approx. $500 - $600 for the permit. If your doing it in stages be prepared for around $150 for each further inspection before you can fill the holes in.
Have you got public liability insurance for your mates if you need a hand.- _murpheys law doesn't allow for a BBQ & a few free beers_
If you want to sell within xxx years (I forget offhand what it is) take into account the cost of having the work inspected
Owner Builders course is now in effect in Vic. to obtain a permit.
Generally with a few stumps if you went for a permit, the building surveyor would go on the existing depth. If its the entire home they may require a soil test (geotechnical report) to cover their b'sides. maybe $250. 
For your own peace of mind don't use rapid set poured into the hole dry & then mixed with water (with the fear of being sued) - it doesn't work unless you are fastidious about doing it right - too much water & you could end up with less than 20 mpa, not enough water & you could end up with the same result. One of the reasons for footing or stump failure can be attributed to incorrect concrete batching.
Besides all the technical reasons it's a bugger of a job.

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