If you didn’t understand how houses are painted, would you feel comfortable entrusting the service to someone you barely knew and who didn’t explain their work at all? If you didn’t know how taxes worked, would you be okay calling up the first CPA in the phone book or listed on the internet and saying, “hey, take my money.” If you’ve answered yes to either of these questions, then we may have a larger problem on our hands.

The team at Restumping Melbourne knows our stuff inside and out. We have the decades of experience to prove it. But why should that be enough for you to choose us? It shouldn’t. You should feel comfortable asking us, “what on earth we’re doing and how,” at any point in the process.

Part of this is the materials that we use. The fact alone that restumping and reblocking are phrases used interchangeably depending on where you live, is probably confusing enough. Here’s a breakdown of the different materials used in the restumping process, all over the country.

Victoria:

• Victoria chooses rot-resistant timber stumps. Victorian Red Gum is one of the most commonly used. There is an advantage with Victorian Red Gum– it’s 10% cheaper than concrete. However it does have the disadvantage of limited life expectancy. Many don’t care about this because they will still last upwards of 20 years and many assume that they won’t be in their homes that long. It’s still something to keep in mind, regardless.
• In our opinion, an equally as impactful disadvantage with Victorian Red Gum timber stumps is that they won’t be nearly as well-secured to the the bearers as concrete stumps will be. This ultimately means that the home won’t be leveled as accurately.

Concrete:

• Concrete stumps are used throughout Australia. They’re on the market in several different types. Those that cause the best connection have a 10mm diameter threaded rod at the top of the stump, which is then secured with a footing from a poured concrete pad. This threaded rod is what allows the stump to be bolted securely to the floor frame. Once you do this properly, you prevent both upward movement and downward movement. Then the concrete pad provides protection against the settlement of long term footing.
• These concrete stumps last indefinitely– the longest shelf life by far. The only exception here is the most damp conditions because even the best concrete stumps are amenable to rust. If a stump rusts, it may expand and cause weakness.

Queensland

• Life Victoria, Queensland has specialized stumps that they tend to use frequently when they enforce the foundation of their homes and businesses. In the past, the stumps that contractors used in the area were made from 300mm diameter ironbark or rot-resistant timber of a similar style.
• These days, these choose CCA (Copper Chrome Arsenate) treated pine, or concrete stumps. In a lot of areas where the ground is particularly soft, a concrete footing is poured first.
• High wind stresses are also particularly prevalent, so anchor bolts are required in each corner, around the perimeter every four meters and also under bracing walls.

We want to equip you to ask the right questions. If there is content that we don’t cover, feel free to reach out to any of our team members. We’ll be happy to help.