Reblocking
Reblocking is the Victorian term for restumping: replacing the stumps a house sits on once they rot, sink or crack.
Restumping in Lara
Restumping Geelong restumps the older homes in Lara's original township, where weatherboards on timber stumps go back many decades. The new estates are slab-built and don't need us; the old town does. If your Lara home has timber floors that are no longer level, request a quote and we'll inspect the stumps.
Lara is really two towns in one. Around the original township near the station and the Lake Bank Hotel, which has stood since 1860, you'll find the older housing: weatherboard homes on timber stumps, some of them generations old. Around that core, former farmland has filled with new estates of slab-on-ground homes.
Restumping in Lara is township work. If your older home near the shops or the station has sloping floors, doors that catch or a veranda parting company with the house, the stumps underneath are the likely cause. Request a quote and we'll come out, inspect the subfloor and give you a written price.
Local knowledge
Restumping older homes in Lara
The township's older homes were built across many decades, so stump age varies more here than in Geelong's one-era suburbs. Some houses have been partially restumped before; others are still on their original stumps. That's why the inspection matters more than the era: we map what's under the house before pricing anything.
Lara sits on the volcanic plain north of Geelong, on clay prone to the same shrink-swell cycle as the rest of the region. Hot, dry summers on the open plain pull moisture out of the ground hard. Older homes here often show their worst movement at the end of summer, when the clay has shrunk away from the stumps, then partly recover in winter. If the floors never come back to level, the stumps have moved for good.
What to look for
Common problems we see in Lara
- Original timber stumps under older township homes rotted or loose
- End-of-summer floor movement as the plain's clay dries and shrinks
- Verandas and lean-tos settling away from the main house
- Mixed-age stumps from past partial repairs failing unevenly
- Older homes bought for renovation needing stumps done before other trades
What we do
Services for Lara 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 Lara
Tell us about your place and we will get back to you with an honest assessment and a fixed price.
Lara restumping questions
My Lara home is in a new estate. Is restumping ever relevant?
Almost never. Estate homes here are slab-on-ground, and a slab that moves is underpinning territory. Restumping in Lara is for the older stumped homes around the original township. If you're in the old town, it's very relevant indeed.
Can you restump an old farmhouse outside the township?
Yes. Lara still has rural properties with older farmhouses on stumps, and we take those jobs. Access is usually easier than on suburban blocks. The one extra consideration is that farm homesteads often carry additions from several eras, so the stump plan takes a little longer to map.