Bad Stumps in a property

[Property Meister]

can somone please clarify what I have been told,

a property I am looking at, has quote 1-2 "bad stumps"

quote: "it doesn't mean that the property will fall down in the next 10 years, but you probably wouldn't renovate it, and would tear it down eventually"

quote: "it would cost about $5k to fix this"

apparnetly, one of the bedrooms one of the corners is sloping slightly.

can anybody confirm what I have been told is correct, unfortantely, I am unable to use this as a tool for negotiation.

 

[wylie]

One or two "bad stumps" would not stop me buying a property, especially if they are easy to get at and easy to replace. More information is needed really.

 

[Property Meister]

what sort of information should I/can I ask for/is needed?

 

[wylie]

I would ask what they mean by "bad stumps". My initial thought is that they could be eaten out by termites and need replacing. They could simply need packing up, which would be cheap and easy to do.

Our houses tend to be Queenslanders where access to the stumps is as easy as walking under the house. If the house has been built under, you might have a more expensive job ahead.

One of our IPs has a back corner stump that doesn't actually touch the ground as it has rotted out due to water getting into the footing. We will get our trusted stumper to jack up the corner slightly, enough to slip the stump out and replace with another timber stump.

A house my mum sold just recently had a sloping floor where stumps on one side had sunk. Walking across the living room it was obvious that the floor sloped downwards at that side. She had the stumper replace the sunken stumps but could have simply chocked them. However, as it was to be sold, she knew a building inspector could well turn this chocking into a bigger issue than it is, so she spent the money on new stumps. It is not an expensive exercise, and these were short stumps. He put in new stumps where needed, and levelled the whole house for very small cost.

The bit where you say "it doesn't mean that the property will fall down in the next 10 years, but you probably wouldn't renovate it, and would tear it down eventually" does concern me. Is this what you plan to do with this house? If not, I would get a stumper in to quote. Try to find one who is recommended if possible. You don't want to pay for work that isn't necessary.

Also be aware that if previous owners have shaved doors to make them open as the house has settled, when you restump or level the house, you may have doors that stick and need attention to make them work. You could also get cracking of walls, depending on how much they have sunk.

 

[BoatBoy]

I replaced some "Bad stumps" recently on a rental that have been bad for many many years.

We just did a re-level/jack and pack every few years as required when doors and windows were hard to shut and this cost about $150 a time.

When we decided to do a strategic replace of the troublemakers, they cost about $500 each including taking off and re fixing battens and cleanup.

Dave

 

[Ms Jade]

Hey PM, why can't you use it in negotiations? Is this house going to auction?
I've been quoted about $2k per stump so $5k sounds about right. No biggee though & may put other people off. Certainly not worth tearing the house down for!

 

[wylie]

Hey PM, why can't you use it in negotiations? Is this house going to auction?
I've been quoted about $2k per stump so $5k sounds about right. No biggee though & may put other people off. Certainly not worth tearing the house down for!

$2K per stump seems like highway robbery . Are they putting in gold plated stumps .

 

[BoatBoy]

$2K per stump seems like highway robbery . Are they putting in gold plated stumps .

Absolutely

Here's the bit from my last quote, this was in Aug 2008 [FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]

We have pleasure in submitting our quotation for the above work for the lump sum of three thousand and three hundred dollars only ($3,300.00).

GST exclusive contract sum $ 3,000.00
GST sum $ 300.00
GST inclusive contract sum $ 3,300.00

Our quotation is based on the site inspection carried out by (the builder who shall not be named) Builders.

Expressed conditions relating to contract documentation​

We have included the following:

• Preliminary expenses
  • Building Services Authority home warranty insurance,
  • Minor works contract,
• Restump
  • Removal of old posts,
  • Supply and install six (6) 75 x 75 x 3.0 square hollow section (SHS) posts,
  • Removal and re-install battens including new lugs,
  • Supply and install bracing sets as required.
• Cleaning
  • Cleanup and removal of all construction rubbish from site.

 

[Property Meister]

Hey PM, why can't you use it in negotiations? Is this house going to auction?
I've been quoted about $2k per stump so $5k sounds about right. No biggee though & may put other people off. Certainly not worth tearing the house down for!

unforutantely, the vendor has already made it clear that this won't be negotiable, the vendor feels that the price that we have half agreed upon is already low enough....

I would ask what they mean by "bad stumps". My initial thought is that they could be eaten out by termites and need replacing. They could simply need packing up, which would be cheap and easy to do.

Our houses tend to be Queenslanders where access to the stumps is as easy as walking under the house. If the house has been built under, you might have a more expensive job ahead.

One of our IPs has a back corner stump that doesn't actually touch the ground as it has rotted out due to water getting into the footing. We will get our trusted stumper to jack up the corner slightly, enough to slip the stump out and replace with another timber stump.

A house my mum sold just recently had a sloping floor where stumps on one side had sunk. Walking across the living room it was obvious that the floor sloped downwards at that side. She had the stumper replace the sunken stumps but could have simply chocked them. However, as it was to be sold, she knew a building inspector could well turn this chocking into a bigger issue than it is, so she spent the money on new stumps. It is not an expensive exercise, and these were short stumps. He put in new stumps where needed, and levelled the whole house for very small cost.

The bit where you say "it doesn't mean that the property will fall down in the next 10 years, but you probably wouldn't renovate it, and would tear it down eventually" does concern me. Is this what you plan to do with this house? If not, I would get a stumper in to quote. Try to find one who is recommended if possible. You don't want to pay for work that isn't necessary.

Also be aware that if previous owners have shaved doors to make them open as the house has settled, when you restump or level the house, you may have doors that stick and need attention to make them work. You could also get cracking of walls, depending on how much they have sunk.

apparently, the stumps 2-3 are not perfect. one of the bedrooms are slightly sloaping, noticeable, but not too bad, apparently quite easily accessible from the side of hte house.

no other information is avaialble at the moment, don't know if its termites, mould....apparently just due to age.

its an old house so apparently its not a floating stump, so I don't think that the stump is under?

 

[Brettus]

PM i notice you are in Vic, this is good as im near Melbourne and I just had a quote to re-stump an entire house for a bit under 6 grand. So I'm not sure what kind of stumps you are getting quote for thousands of dollars for 2 stumpSs???
It should be less than $100 per stump for a new concrete stump. There will be anything from 50 - 100 stumps in a house.

Oh, and one other thing I was told, if one stump is rotten, they will most likely all be ritten. And if its termites, well you need to get it inspected for that and treated as necessary.

I think queenslanders have very long stumps which would be a different cost all together.

 

[vbplease]

Oh, and one other thing I was told, if one stump is rotten, they will most likely all be ritten. And if its termites, well you need to get it inspected for that and treated as necessary.

Agree.
Unless the house is clad under, it would look strange having a few new steel posts amongst the old timber ones. May as well replace them all and raise to legal height under Is it common to raise and build under in Vic?

 

[Player]

Nothing new to add, however agree with posts above. A couple of stumps should entail a few hundred dollars. As you state access is staright forward. Five or six grand would see you stump a small three BR house say 15-18 squares.

Wouldn't deter me if everything else stacks up (especially the numbers) and if significant pest damage wasn't evident.

PM, have had a pest inspection done? And, is what you have been "told" from a building inspection or someone unqualified for such?

 

[wylie]

It should be less than $100 per stump for a new concrete stump. There will be anything from 50 - 100 stumps in a house.

That would be a BIG house .

Oh, and one other thing I was told, if one stump is rotten, they will most likely all be rotten. And if its termites, well you need to get it inspected for that and treated as necessary.

I have found this not to be true, at least not for the houses we have had. Sometimes a stump is rotten due to termite damage, or rotten at the base from years of sitting in a low spot and having wet feet (like the one I have right now).

I think queenslanders have very long stumps which would be a different cost all together.

The length of the stumps on Queenslanders also varies from two feet to a few metres (visible above the ground), and sometimes that can be on the one house. Our house for example has stumps only high enough to lay down and crawl like a snake at the back, but full height at the front. Very much dependent on the slope of the land.

The stumps my mum had replaced recently were on a similarly short/tall stumps mixture house. Luckily most replaced were on the "short" side, but the length of the stump is only part of the cost anyway.

 

[mystique]

We recently purchased a house needing some, not all stumps replaced. It cost $300 per stump, 20 stumps, $6000 total. It would have been $250 per stump but they had to be slightly offset. Maybe you should get a new quote.

 

[Ms Jade]

Hmm...I just looked into this & what we were quoted for was "underpinning" as the corner of the house has a large crack. I gather this is different from just replacing the stump? Otherwise i better get some more quotes.