I saw a house in my target area, which advertised for $75K less than the average. the catch is half of the actual house dropped to probably 50-100mm (stumps problem). in one of the bedroom, the floor has sinked about 50 mm (gap from the bottom of the wall to to the ground). I like the property due to its great location and i’m considering it as my first IP. My question is==> Is it worth it, considering that i’m still a beginner and don’t know any builder to help me fixing the problem, to buy and fix the slope???
i have asked a couple of friends, and the telling me that the house needs serious re-stumping done asap.
Anyone with similar experience???
Thanks guys.I did re-stumping in my construction coarse.
Apart from being a bit of an uncomfortable thing to do there is not much to it. All a stump is a red gum stump usually sitting on a sole plate which is a bit of red gum again which the stump sits on in under the ground. It is a rectangle shaped flat bit of wood supposedly to prevent the stump from sinking. Or can be concrete. the floor joint that runs across and lies on the upright stump can sometimes be just simply jacked up at each stump and as I said a bit of flat wood placed between the stump and the joinst effectively holding the floor which in turn holds the house up level.
The stumps are the houses legs you have got a room with legs a little short because over time they have slowly sank into the ground is my guess.
I have never actually re-stumped just completely done them new from the start but you may be able to just jack the area up each stump at a time and put a peaces of wood under each stump ‘top’ until level, it will probably only be a few of them unleveled.
The problem might be that now that it is unleveled that it could for instance have cracked the brick wall that if it were brick or interior plaster so I would consider these things to sum up what costs involved.
I have a mate that bought a house needed stumping badly the kitchen and cupboards were on a slope but during the boom 2001-2003 it went from 27k to 75k and it never got re-stumped before it was sold.
But if it is not to hard to tackle then I myself would purchase and roll my sleeves up and give it a go it is not difficult to level the stump. Maybe just read up about it somewhere or ask a Chippy.
Do your research. If the stumps are rooted out then this is where it can be a pain and particularly if not much access under the house so then floor board need to come up and if ones rotted then most others probably might be unless there is water getting in one spot to rott the wood?
See lot’s of variable narrow it down to see weather it is worth it and then decide.
would have to agree – there is not much to it but it is a dreadfull job. as a kid i used to crawl around under houses and do this type of work on occassions.
half a dozen car jacks – lots of bricks and concrete and you will have yourself a straight house – get a pro to do it. But get under and check why it has sunk. Most common is misdirected storm water which is easily fixed but if it is moist for some other reason you will need to address this first. Are the bearers rotten or bowed. Sometimes they will bend which makes straigtening a bit harder. Sometimes the whole house will sink and tilt a bit which is probably the easiest to fix. You will get alot of cracking in plaster etc so budget to get that done.
last time is spoke to someone it was between 150 and 200 per stump to get done (that could be old numbers)good luck
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Thanks guys,
Jaffa you’re absolutely right, there is a brick wall cracked due to the movement. how much would you put aside for fixing the brick wall?
CheersMentee,is this a brick veneer house you are talking about,or a solid brick house?
Tools
It is a brick veneer house actually
In my experience it is not a huge problem, so long as the main structure has no damage. Stumps last time I checked were about $150-$250 per stump to fix (about 3 months ago), and it may be a simple case of plastering to fix the wall.
I would recommend you find yourself a good & reputable builder or handiman to go around and check it with you. You might also like to have a building inspection done before you buy it just to be on the safe side.
Cheers…DiMentee,
If it is a brick veneer house then you will find that there will not be any stumps around the perimeter of the house.The 50mm gap you mentioned between the wall and the floor…is it on the outside wall of the house? If so, then it isn’t a stump problem,Around the perimeter you will find a bearer which sits on top of brick piers,which are tied in to the base courses of the outside wall,If these had sunk,then you you would also have severe cracking in the brickwall (which you mentioned),but no amount of restumping will fix this.The wall may need to be underpinned,which iis an expensive process.If the wall isn’t cracked in that location,there may be a problem with the bearer or the joists.Older houses used to be built close to the ground and the plate they had in place of the bearer was often in contact with the soil,and would rot away.Brick veneer houses however don’t usually have this problem,so is there any evedence of water damage?Is the dropped floor behind a shower or bath?If rot isn’t the issue,it may be termite activity,with the little buggers eating away at the bearers and joists.
If the 50 mm fall you mentioned is along an internal wall,then it may be a stump issue,but it is strange that the wall has not dropped with the floor.Usually you would find that an area of stumps would subside,and the wall would drop with it.Has the whole house subsided,or is it localised? Again ,along an internal wall, it could also be water damage or termite activity.
Tools
Thanks for all your input guys,
The auction was actualy today (this morning).
and i decided not to get it, although it sold about 60k cheaper.
i just think the whole place was too messy and realistically I need a bulldozer and start over just to be safe.
I found more problem than just the stumps, the ceiling were cracked everywhere, and on some place of the house, you can put a couch and it will slide to the other side.
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Cheers guys.
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