QLD Is movement in Brisnane highset houses normal?

Hello,

I have shortlist a couple of properties but upon probing the REA they have mentioned that there is some movement in the properties. I have been told that this is normal?

Some questions;

• Can anyone tell me their experiences with house movement on highset houses?
• Does anyone have any horror stories?
• Do you generally stay away from them?
• If you restump can you expect movement to continue?
• If you have adjustable stumps can you discount the need to have to worry about them?

Again I seek the knowledge from the group.

Thanks,
QS

 

All houses move its a matter of how much they move. They'll outlast most modern techniques but a B&P report is a must as always.

You'll often see little packers between stumps and bearers to compensate for stumps subsiding, etc.

 

All houses will experience movement, and it is not unusual in highset houses. Even after restumping, movement will occur. Small amounts of differential settlement can be re-levelled by packing between the stumps and bearers - locally replacing stumps is for the more significant movement. Quite common to have sticky doors and windows in the highsets as a result of the movement over time and having to get them eased as well.

 

Movement will always occur due to fluctuations in soil moisture, root movement, shallow foundations, etc.

Movement causing damage such as hairline cracks or structural damage is where it becomes a problem and is less common.

Causes and solutions to this vary and you would need a structural engineer's advice.

At the end of the day it depends on whether the numbers stack up as an investment.

Deepening stumps/underpinning does not eliminate movement, but can limit the risk of problems.

Adjustable stumps are a good solution, but require maintenance.

 

Thanks everyone for responding. I hadn't considered soil movement as part of my due diligence however the agents told me about a property that needed to be restumped and thought holy cow, do i need to consider this costs and does this put people off when you try to sell later down the line.

As each of you have responded it appears movement is normal in all properties.

Does anyone know how much it would cost to restump a 3br highset house that needs it.
Agent quotes me 10k but i'm not sure if this is right......

 

as for lending/valuation perspective exercise with caution. you may get away with the big4 without needing Building inspection, but not so with smaller lenders. all it needs is a comment on the valuation report indicate a possible shift/movement in house or structural change, these 2nd/3rd lender will freak out....

 

@RetireRich101 - I had never heard of banks needing a building report for a loan. But we have all loans with major lenders. Do the smaller banks always require a building report?

 

If the agent says 10k I'd say 20! (10 sounds cheap to me) I had an electrician do about 8 hours of work on 2 houses recently, it was $1400 so I think a couple of guys restumping a house wouldn't be cheap. Do a google search see what you can find.

 

Sounds about right to me.. The average 3bed house would have about 30stumps. 30 x $500 per stump + levelling + gst = $20k

 

If it's on concrete or timber stumps then I'd recommend replacing with steel posts founded into concrete bored piers as per soils report ($450), and raise to legal height under or at least to have plenty of storage.

 

fantastic guys.. this forum is awesome for due diligence.... i guess one lesson that i am learning, is due your due diligence on any costs that REA estimate for you

 

Yes I kept buying using big4, including AMP they didn't ask for BP as long as the risk rating on the improvement was a risk rating of 2.
Thank you to APRA, I am pigeonholed to use the smaller lenders. A movement/shift in the house would trigger a risk rating on the improvement. In my case, the risk rating was a 3. Lender1 rejected because the security was unacceptable, Lender2 requesting all sorts of details. You would need to seek extension to the BP and Fin clause, and sometimes Vendor are not so keen to keep extending. On the bright side, you may able to negotiate on further discounts been the security in unsatisfactory condition.

 

So guys... how much to should i be looking at restumping with steel adjustable posts on an average size 3br1bath2car

 

I was told an average $600-1000 per stump over a phone quote

 

Hi guys, i started another thread about this topic, but i thought i'd re-ask the question here given you guys seem to be Brissy locals.....

 

It is often the case that the owner only has to replace a section of stumps, not the entire set.