Reblocking & Restumping in Northcote, Thornbury, Fairfield and Alphington

Period homes in the southern part of Darebin

The southern end of Darebin was largely built between the 1880s and the 1930s. High Street and the old train lines brought houses quickly, and the result is a dense mix of:

• Victorian and Edwardian weatherboard villas, often double-fronted with decorative verandahs.
• Single-fronted cottages in the side streets of Northcote and Thornbury.
• Inter-war Californian bungalows with low roofs and deep porches, especially in Thornbury and Fairfield.
• Some 1950s and 1960s infill, typically weatherboard or brick veneer on stumps.

Most of the older timber houses were stood on hardwood stumps. Many have had partial restumps over the years, and quite a few now stand on a patchwork of old timber and newer concrete under the one floor.

Creeks, slopes and soil

This area sits between two creeks. The Merri Creek forms the western boundary of Northcote, and the Darebin Creek runs along the eastern side of Fairfield and Alphington before joining the Yarra. Between them the land rises into gentle ridges, and many streets have a noticeable fall from front to back or side to side.

That matters for stumps in a few ways:

• Tall stumps on the low side of a sloping block need proper bracing and deeper footings.
• Water runs downhill under houses, leaving the low side damp and the high side drier.
• Soil changes across a short distance, from basalt clay on the higher western ground to silty clays and older river sediments nearer the Yarra in Fairfield and Alphington.

A house in Alphington can behave quite differently from one in Northcote only a few kilometres away.

Heritage overlays in Darebin

Large areas of Northcote and Thornbury, and parts of Fairfield and Alphington, are under heritage overlays in the Darebin planning scheme. Restumping is generally treated as repair work, so it rarely needs a planning permit on its own. Problems arise if the street-facing appearance changes, for example:

• The front floor height goes up or down noticeably.
• Original base boards, lattice or verandah posts are removed or replaced with different materials.
• The front steps or verandah are rebuilt while the subfloor is open.

Before any permit is lodged, we look up the overlay and plan the work so that, from the footpath, nobody could tell we had been.

Typical problems in these houses

• Mixed stump systems. Original red gum under the front rooms, a later concrete restump under the middle, and a rear addition on its own shallow stumps.
• Sagging verandah floors where the front stumps have dropped more than the rest.
• Damp subfloors on the low side of the block, with soft stumps and mouldy bearers.
• Old fireplace bases that have dropped and cracked the walls above.
• Floors out by several centimetres across a long hallway.

Verandahs and front rooms

The front of a period house takes the most punishment. Verandah floors are exposed to rain, front gardens are watered right up against the base boards, and the front rooms often carry a heavy fireplace and chimney. It is common to find the verandah and the first two rooms sitting lower than the rest of the house. Where verandah joists and boards have rotted, they can be repaired like-for-like during the restump so the street face keeps its original look.

Narrow blocks and access

Many Northcote and Thornbury cottages sit on narrow blocks with limited side access. Stumps, concrete and spoil may have to come through a side passage or from a rear lane. On sloping sites, the low side often gives good headroom under the floor, which helps with access once the crew is underneath.

How we work on period homes

Older houses need a careful hand. The floor has spent decades settling into a particular shape, and the walls and ceilings have followed it. Bringing it back to level too far or too quickly can crack plaster and lath walls. We agree a sensible target with you and lift in stages.

We also check bearers and joists closely. In a hundred-year-old house, borer and rot in the bearers is common, and fixing it while the stumps are being replaced saves opening the floor again later.

Book an inspection

If you own a period home in Northcote, Thornbury, Fairfield or Alphington and the floor is moving, call us for a free subfloor inspection. We will tell you what is holding the house up and what it needs.