Sinking Floor Stumps

They’re at risk for two different reasons. Older red-gum and ironbark stumps from before the 1970s rot at the soil line — moisture wicks into the timber and the stump thins where it meets the ground until it can’t carry load. Concrete stumps don’t rot, but they can crack along old hairline fractures or simply sink into reactive clay if the bearing pad is undersized. Either way, the failure point is usually within 100 mm of the soil — that’s where to look first with a torch on hands and knees.

Pre-purchase inspections flag stump movement quickly — a level on the floor and a spirit level on the doorframe tell the story in 30 seconds, and a torch under the house picks up rotted timber or separation between stump and bearer. Once it’s in the report, expect price reductions, conditional offers, or structural engineering reports the seller is asked to fund. The cheapest path is knowing exactly what the floor is doing before listing — a free structural assessment confirms it.

Almost never. Australian home insurance treats stump movement as a maintenance issue rather than an insurable event — the stumps are gradually failing, the cause is age or ground movement, and there’s no sudden trigger to claim against. Some policies cover sudden movement from a defined insurable event (a burst water main washing fill out from under a footing, for example), but everyday stump sinking from rot or reactive clay is excluded by virtually every standard policy. Worth reading your policy wording rather than assuming.

Floor stumps are repaired by fixing the ground beneath them — no restumping required. GeoPoly™ resin is injected through small, coin-sized holes drilled around the affected stump locations. The resin fills voids beneath the stump footings and lifts the stumps back towards level, typically in 1–2 days, with the existing stumps left in place and no floorboards removed. Read the full restumping alternative guide for the complete process, pricing range, and warranty.