Reblocking & Restumping in Pascoe Vale, Glenroy and Fawkner

Post-war housing in northern Merri-bek

After the war, the paddocks north of Coburg were subdivided at a rapid pace. Returned servicemen, migrant families and first-home buyers filled streets of modest weatherboards, many built to a handful of standard plans. Brick veneer arrived later and became more common through the 1960s.

Typical houses here include:

• Triple-fronted and L-shaped weatherboards on quarter-acre or slightly smaller blocks.
• Housing Commission homes in parts of Glenroy, Hadfield and Fawkner, including concrete-panel and weatherboard designs.
• 1960s brick veneers with a timber floor inside on stumps and brick outer walls on a strip footing.
• Inter-war bungalows in the older pockets of Pascoe Vale South and Oak Park, closer to Coburg.

Stumps under the early post-war houses were often softwood or lower-grade hardwood, because good timber was scarce. Many of those stumps are now failing.

The ground: flat basalt plains

This part of the north is firmly on the volcanic plains. The land is flat to gently undulating, and the soil is heavy, black to dark grey clay over basalt. It is among the most reactive soil in Melbourne. In a wet winter, stumps in that clay rise. In a long dry summer, the clay cracks and shrinks and the stumps drop again.

The Moonee Ponds Creek runs along the western edge of Pascoe Vale and Glenroy, and the Merri Creek along the east of Fawkner. Houses near either creek, or near drainage reserves, can see extra movement where groundwater levels change.

Basalt is often shallow here. The crew may hit floater rock or a solid layer while digging, which takes longer but gives a strong base for footings.

Common issues in these suburbs

• Floors sloping toward the centre of the house, where internal stumps carry the most load and dropped first.
• Back rooms out of level with the front, because a 1960s or 1970s extension was stood on shallower stumps.
• Brick veneers with internal floors moving while the brick walls stay put, leaving gaps at skirting boards.
• Crushed packers from earlier partial work that was never properly re-levelled.
• Wet subfloors where downpipes discharge onto clay right beside the house.

Brick veneer houses

A lot of houses in Glenroy, Hadfield and Pascoe Vale are brick veneer on a timber floor. Inside, the floor sits on stumps. Outside, the brick skin sits on its own footing. When the internal stumps fail, the floor drops inside the walls, and gaps appear between the floor and the skirting.

Restumping these houses means working inside the brick perimeter through the subfloor, which is usually accessible through vents or a manhole. Where the outer walls have moved as well, underpinning may also be needed. We check both and give you one scope that covers the whole house.

Housing Commission homes

Former Housing Commission houses in Glenroy, Hadfield and Fawkner were built to a budget in large numbers. Some have concrete panel walls, which are heavy and less tolerant of movement than weatherboard. Others are standard weatherboards with fibro additions. If fibro cement sheeting is present, it may contain asbestos, so we check before disturbing any base sheeting or cladding.

Planning and permits

Most of this area is outside heritage overlays, so planning issues are less common than in Brunswick or Coburg. A building permit is still needed for restumping, and we organise it through a private building surveyor. We also look after the Merri-bek permit if a skip bin has to go on the street.

How we approach the job

Step one is a free look under the house, with levels recorded and every reachable stump tested. Then we explain whether the house needs a full restump, a partial restump or a re-level, and recommend a stump type. On the flat clay of Pascoe Vale and Glenroy, adjustable steel is often worth considering because it makes future fine-tuning easier.

Book a free inspection

Noticed the floor tilting or doors starting to catch somewhere in Pascoe Vale, Oak Park, Glenroy, Hadfield or Fawkner? Get in touch and we will book a time to crawl under and report back.