Restumping Ringwood: How to Choose a Restumper

Ringwood homes include interwar and post-war brick houses on family-sized allotments. Each house needs its own look under the floor. Here is what to check before you say yes to a quote.

What the age of Ringwood houses means for your inspection

Ringwood has interwar and post-war brick homes on family-sized allotments. Maroondah's Heritage Study records allotment sales from as early as 1886 and a building boom after the Great War into the 1920s.

The same study says the State Savings Bank of Victoria built generally timber family homes between 1921 and 1939, some of them in Maroondah. A restumper should look at your floor and stumps themselves, not guess from the street.

Maroondah's Asset Protection Permit and your restumper

Maroondah requires an Asset Protection Permit when a Building Permit has been issued or building or demolition works are proposed. The council's list of works includes underpinning and restumping.

Ask the restumper who quotes whether this permit applies to your job and who applies for it. Maroondah says it pre-inspects and issues the permit within 10 business days of application, payment and the required information.

If the council considers the works damaged its assets, it requires the damage to be rectified within 28 days. Ask who is responsible for that before work starts.

What a written quote should list

A restumping quote should state the work in plain words so you can compare it with another.

Check these points:

1. The licence of the restumper who inspected your house.

2. Whether the job is restumping or reblocking, and which stumps or piers are replaced.

3. The stump material and the number of stumps.

4. Whether any relevelling is included.

5. Who deals with the council permit.

Warning signs include a quote with no inspection, no licence details and vague wording about the work.

Questions to ask before you agree

Ask the restumper to show you what is wrong under the floor. Ask why the stumps need replacing, not only partial repair.

Ask if the job is restumping, reblocking or both, as the words are often used for the same work. Also ask whether the quote covers stumps or piers only, or relevelling too.

If you are planning a renovation or remodel, or an extension or addition, ask how the restumping fits the order of works.

How to reach us

Fill in the quote form and the restumper calls you back. There is no cost and no obligation.

You deal with one licensed restumper, not a list of them.

Ringwood: the suburbs we cover

Ringwood and nearby: Ringwood, Ringwood North, Ringwood East, Heathmont, Warranwood, Mitcham, Vermont, Wantirna

Croydon and the outer east: Croydon, Croydon Hills, Croydon South, Croydon North, Mooroolbark, Lilydale, Kilsyth, Kilsyth South, Chirnside Park, Montrose, Mount Evelyn, Wonga Park, Coldstream, Yering, Yarra Glen, Wattleglen

Warrandyte and the north-east: Park Orchards, Warrandyte, Warrandyte South, North Warrandyte, Research, Kangaroo Ground, Hurstbridge, Bend of Islands, Panton Hill, Christmas Hills, Cottles Bridge, Arthurs Creek, Strathewen, Steels Creek, Humevale, Nutfield, Smiths Gully, Saint Andrews, Dewhurst, Silvan, Selby, Clematis, Wandin North, Wandin East, Gruyere, Nar Nar Goon North

Bayswater and the Dandenongs: Bayswater, Bayswater North, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, The Basin, Ferny Creek, Upwey, Sassafras, Sherbrook, Tecoma, Kalorama, Mount Burnett, Mount Dandenong, Olinda, Belgrave Heights, Belgrave, Kallista, The Patch, Menzies Creek, Monbulk, Emerald, Tremont

Questions from Ringwood