Restumping

Hi,
We are looking at purchasing a home that is quite old. We had an inspection done today and one of the things that needed doing was restumping. We can not get a clear pic on how much this would cost. Some places are saying $100 per stump and others from $400-$700. It is an old weatherboard and the builder inspector said they wouldn't be able to access from under the house. There is no room to get under and next to it is concrete. (about 80sqm- house size)
We have no idea how much extra this would cost for them to have to go into the house and rip up some of the floorboards. He also mentioned something about ripping up the concrete to get underneath.

Can anyone give us any guidance? I feel like restumping shouldn't be more than say $15,000 but if the stumps are $400-$700 that would bring it up to the $50,000 mark. HELP!!

Auction is on this Saturday the 5th May.

 

Trying to restump when there is not enough crawl space under the house will be a giant PITA and expensive since you will have to cut access holes in the floor.

Is there any reason you cannot just find another house that does not need re-stumping? Didn't you notice that the floors were uneven / squeaky / slopey when you did your walk-thru?

 

We have not bought the place yet. Yes we can see that the floor is not correct that is why I'm trying to find out how much it would cost. This will affect my bid price.

 

I understand all that. I guess what I was asking is why is this place still on your short list? What is the compelling reason it is still under consideration? Can’t you find something better that doesn’t have yet to be determined costs to fix?

 

If you want the place, I would add worst case fix cost + some incentive for me to go through it all, and if it is close to ground, I would be lifting it.

or

if it is the location, pay land value minus some figure if no competition and build new.

PS sometimes you can go through floor boards or may be an access area under some carpet inside..

 

Is the property for an IP?
Does the property have to be restumped straight away or would be ok for a few years (or more)

I bought a property around 12 months ago that needs re stumping (there is access without cutting the floor though) its gone up over 25% in value and I realistically won't have to restump for at least a few more years.

I wouldn't cross a house off your list purely due to this!

 

In Melbourne restumping costs just over $50 per stump with good access under the house.

If no access, it will definitely cost more, but as per the comment above may not need to be touched for years.

 

Exactly - plan around lifting the place so you can build underneath.

If the place is only 80m2 then this will add more value then it it costs.

We regretted renovating a place without lifting first - it gives you a lot of options.

 

I have seen you post this twice on here now and I'm sorry but you are way off the mark in regards to the costs.

Restumping costs on average $100 per stump + the permit costs, depending on the access, type of house (weatherboard/brick veneer/solid brick)and soil conditions it can be more.

FWIW i have been restumping for the past 15 years and it has never been $50 per stump in my time

 

Unfortunately house in Victoria are mainly low set houses and can't be lifted like they can in qld or other states, unless the land slopes dramatically you wont be able to build underneath

 

No this is not for an IP. We want to live in it.
Actually as we want to live in it and renovate inside, we have been advised to restump before fixing the kitchen etc otherwise it might lead to it becoming unstable at a later date.
Alex - the reason it is on our shortlist as it is unrenovated and cheaper even with money put into renovating. We hate others peoples style and want to create our own house. It also is an awesome location.
Dabbler - yes going through all that is def a reason for hesitation.

 

Recently had 150 concrete stumps replaced in my 1950s place at a cost of 16k including permit,rubbish removal etc..

 

I did not see where located ?

I would lift it enough to have easy access if your going to stay, or, just live in it till it literally has to go then build the house you want.

I have posted this before, but there are houses that wwere and looked in very poor condition over 40 years ago, anyway, those places, unless knocked down or burnt, will out live me & I dare such many of the members here

 

That is a lot of stumps ?

 

Hmmm - was going off memory when citing the $50 - so easy to mis-remember. Have checked, and was quoted $5,000 exc. gst for <100 sq m house so cost per stump would likely be around $100 per stump.

 

oh well, 50 or 100, whats a 50 between friends......but 500, 6 or 700....were talking another planet !

 

It's not just the stumping though, who know whats you find once you get that floor up. We restumped the front half of our 1903 weatherboard 10 years ago. Costs wast about $14k including permits and rubbish removal. That was for 80 new stumps and 50 meters of new joists and bearers that had rotted out too. On top of that there was about another $6k for new (reclaimed) floor boards as we also had no access and once we started lifting the old Baltic Pine boards they were falling apart, wasn't worth salvaging or repairing them so we stripped the lot to make stumping access easier, sold the good ones to a reclamation yard and bought reclaimed Tassie Oak from them. Another $4k on top of that to have the oak laid and sanded and polished.

Turned out to be a big job, I wouldn't dream of doing any renno work until you get that sorted first, we lifted our place up over 120mm around the edges as it had sagged so much over the years. That'd ruin any renno work you did before stumping.

 

any recommendations for stumper company in Melbourne

 

If the house is on stumps - what is it that stops it being lifted (apologies if this is a really naive question) ? I was thinking the Queensland style house when I suggested it.

Maybe check with @Optimus