Reblocking
Reblocking is the Victorian term for restumping: replacing the stumps a house sits on once they rot, sink or crack.
Restumping in Geelong West
Restumping Geelong restumps the Victorian and Edwardian weatherboard homes Geelong West is built on. We replace rotted timber stumps with concrete or steel, relevel the floors and leave the house sitting straight again. Tell us your street and what the floors are doing, and we'll come back with a firm quote.
Geelong West has some of the oldest housing stock in the region. The streets around the Waterloo Street precinct were being built up in the 1850s, and most of the suburb filled in between then and the 1920s. Nearly all of it went up on timber stumps. A century and a half later, plenty of those stumps have rotted off at ground level, and the houses above them have started to lean and sag.
If your cottage off Pakington Street has a floor that runs downhill, or the front door only closes in summer, the stumps are the first thing to check. We inspect the subfloor, tell you plainly what's holding the house up and what isn't, and quote a full or partial restump. Request a quote and we'll arrange a time to get under the house.
Local knowledge
Restumping older homes in Geelong West
The housing here is mostly single-fronted and double-fronted timber cottages and villas from the 1850s through to the 1920s, with Californian bungalows on the later streets. Heritage listings cover large parts of the suburb, and the Waterloo Street area is recognised as one of the earliest surviving suburban precincts in Geelong. These homes were built on hardwood stumps, and good hardwood lasts a long time in the ground, but not 150 years.
Like most of Geelong, Geelong West sits on clay soils that swell when wet and shrink when dry. That seasonal movement works stumps loose and opens gaps between stump tops and bearers. On an old cottage you'll see it as cracks above doorways, gaps along the skirting boards and floors that bounce near the middle of the house.
A lot of restumping work in Geelong West starts with a renovation. Building surveyors and lenders want the stumps sound before an extension goes on, and it's far cheaper to restump before new plaster and cabinetry go in than after.
What to look for
Common problems we see in Geelong West
- Original timber stumps rotted at ground level after a century or more in clay soil
- Floors sloping toward the centre of the house, where subfloor damp is worst
- Doors and sash windows jamming as the frame moves off square
- Cracked plaster and gaps opening at cornices and skirting boards
- Stump failure found mid-renovation or during a pre-purchase inspection
What we do
Services for Geelong West homes
Timber Stump Replacement
Timber stumps rot from the ground line down, where soil moisture sits against the wood, and termites finish what damp starts.
House Levelling
House levelling, also called relevelling, brings sloping floors back to level by jacking the house and packing or adjusting the existing stumps.
Restumping Cost Guide
A full restump of an average Geelong home usually costs $4,000 to $20,000.
Get a free restumping quote in Geelong West
Tell us about your place and we will get back to you with an honest assessment and a fixed price.
Geelong West restumping questions
Geelong West has heritage overlays. Does that affect restumping?
Restumping needs a building permit in Victoria wherever you live, and we arrange that as part of the job. Heritage overlays are mostly concerned with changes visible from the street. Restumping happens under the floor and doesn't alter the look of the house, but where an overlay applies we confirm the requirements with the City of Greater Geelong before work starts.
My house is over 100 years old. Full restump, or can some stumps be saved?
Depends what we find. On homes this age it's common for the high, dry side of the house to be sound while the low side has rotted. We check every stump and quote a partial restump where it's genuinely viable. On many Geelong West cottages the honest answer is a full restump, because stumps of the same age tend to fail around the same time.