Second question about down pipes

Hi Everyone, I have a second question and thought it might be easier to have a separate post. I have just had a building inspection completed (another property) and it came back with two problems and while they are not major I was wondering if anyone could give me some idea of the costs I may face. I'm not sure what information to supply either to get the answers I have photos but finding it hard to upload them.

1. the floor is not level in areas. The building inspectors recommend that the stumps are checked, the uneven floors seem to be confined to the bedroom areas and the living areas are fine. There are cracks in the outer walls, which I am assuming is related to the stumps.

2.The downpipes are not connected to the stormwater drains and there is evidence of a sub floor leak. They recommend a plumber looks at it as has not caused any damage to this point but it needs to be attended to.

 

These are potentially pretty big and expensive things to address. I would classify these as fairly considerable issues.

Have you negotiated an extension so you can obtain some quotes and advice from qualified professionals?

Depending on how many stumps will depend on cost. I have seen quotes from $4k up to $120k. One specific example just to give you an idea (please don't use this to base your decision on without obtaining quotes for the specific property in question), an entire 14sq home in Melbourne with about 100 concrete stumps was about $8-$12k.


If the water is pooling under the floor from the down pipes then addressing the down pipes will be what I would consider an easy fix. If it's due to something else and it's difficult to access, this can lead to having to pull up floor boards to address the issue.

Is there an issue with water flowing through the property? Ie is the slope of the land causing water to get trapped under the house? Or is it one identifiable leak that has been found?

 

Thanks Lisa for the reply as then auction is still a couple of weeks off I have time to check. I guess I was thinking that if it is only a couple of areas that need stumps it wouldn't be major so will speak firstly to the building inspector and then have them checked. I think the pipe is just disconnected from what I can see in the photo. You have given me some food for thought however, about looking into this further so much appreciated.

 

Item 1 sounds relatively serious. Floor relevelling by packing stumps/bearers is straight forward, but if you have building cracking you may need restumping which can cost into the tens of thousands depending on the works required.

Item 2 is an easy fix but set aside 5-10k just in case depending on how much trenching is required to connect, or if a soakwell etc needs to be dug