Period homes on original stumps

Walk through Northcote, Thornbury, Brunswick, Coburg or Preston in the inner north, or Camberwell, Surrey Hills, Kew, Malvern and Box Hill in the east, and you'll pass street after street of weatherboard cottages, Edwardian villas and Californian bungalows. Many of them are still sitting on the timber stumps they were built on. Those stumps have been in the ground for a very long time, and plenty of them are well past the end of their working life.

Restumping a period home isn't fundamentally different from restumping any other timber-floored house, but there are a few things that deserve extra care.

What makes period homes different

Original fabric. Period homes often have features that don't like movement: lath-and-plaster walls, decorative cornices and ceiling roses, leadlight windows, original fireplaces and timber fretwork. When a house that has been out of level for years is brought back up, those elements move with it. A careful, gradual lift reduces the risk of new cracking.

Old repairs. Many period homes have had partial repairs over the decades. It's common to find a mix of original red gum stumps, later concrete stumps, stacked packers and offcuts of timber wedged in to take up gaps. Sorting out what's sound and what isn't is part of the job.

Bearers and joists. In older houses, the subfloor framing may be original hardwood in sizes that are hard to match today. Sound timber can be kept. Rotted or termite-damaged sections need to be replaced, and that is often only discovered once the work starts.

Low subfloors. Some cottages and bungalows sit quite close to the ground, especially towards the back. That can mean digging out to get room to work, which adds time.

Californian bungalows in particular

Californian bungalows, popular across Melbourne in the interwar years, have some features worth knowing about:

Wide front verandahs with heavy masonry or timber columns, which often sit on their own footings and may have moved differently to the house
Brick or rendered bases around the perimeter that hide the stumps behind them
Large, low-pitched roofs that put a lot of weight on the outer walls
Brick chimneys with their own footings that don't move with the floor

Where a chimney or verandah sits on separate footings, the junction between it and the house can crack as the floor is re-levelled. A good restumper will look at these areas before work starts and explain what to expect.

Weatherboard cottages

Weatherboard houses are generally a little more forgiving to re-level than solid brick, because the timber frame and cladding can flex slightly. But they also tend to have more moisture-related problems underneath, such as rotted bottom plates, damaged weatherboards near ground level, and stumps that have sat in damp soil for years. Replacing a few boards or sections of plate during a restump is common.

Heritage overlays and permits

Many streets in Melbourne's inner north and east are covered by a Heritage Overlay in the local planning scheme. A heritage overlay is mainly concerned with how a property looks from the street and what heritage fabric is kept.

Here's how it tends to affect restumping:

Like-for-like restumping, where the house goes back to the same height and nothing changes externally, is generally treated as maintenance. In many cases it doesn't need a planning permit, but the rules vary between councils, so it's always worth checking with yours.
Raising the house, changing the floor height, or altering the visible base of the house can be an external change, and that may need a planning permit under a heritage overlay.
Removing or replacing heritage features such as verandahs, base brickwork or decorative timber may also trigger planning requirements.

Separately from planning, restumping in Victoria generally needs a building permit from a registered building surveyor. A heritage overlay doesn't replace that requirement. It sits alongside it.

If your home is individually listed on the Victorian Heritage Register, the rules are stricter again, and approval from Heritage Victoria may be needed for works.

Keeping the character intact

When restumping a period home, it's worth discussing:

How visible the new stumps will be. Where the base of the house is open, the type and finish of the stumps can affect the look.
Retaining or rebuilding brick or timber base panels, lattice and vents in a style that suits the house.
Subfloor ventilation. Older homes sometimes have blocked or too few vents. Improving airflow helps protect the new work and the framing.
The order of works if you're also planning a renovation.

Planning a restump before you renovate

Many period home owners plan a renovation or extension at the same time. If so, restumping should come first. Re-levelling moves the structure, and it's far better for that to happen before new plaster, kitchens, bathrooms and polished floors are installed. It also gives you a sound, level base to tie any extension into.

Talk to us about your period home

Melbourne Restumping Co can inspect your weatherboard, Edwardian or Californian bungalow, assess the stumps and subfloor framing, and talk you through what the work involves. If your property is under a heritage overlay, we'll flag what to check with council before work starts.

Restumping Weatherboards and Californian Bungalows in Melbourne