Advice
Foundation advice for Melbourne homeowners
Most people buy foundation work once in their life, which makes it an easy trade to be overcharged in. These guides are written to make you a harder customer to mislead — including ours.
Underpinning
Trees and foundations: when removing one makes it worse
The instinct when a tree is cracking your house is to cut it down. On reactive clay, that instinct can make the movement worse, in the opposite direction, a year after the chainsaw's gone home.
1 October 2026
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Underpinning
Cut and fill: why new homes on sloping estate blocks crack
Half your block was cut, half was filled — and fill keeps settling long after handover. Here's how to tell a cut-and-fill crack from a reactive-clay one, and why it matters.
28 September 2026
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Restumping
Why bayside homes on sand crack differently
Brighton, Bentleigh and Elsternwick don't crack the way the rest of Melbourne does. Washout and termites drive foundation problems here — reactive clay barely gets a look in.
24 September 2026
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Restumping
My house is sinking: what to check first
You've noticed something — a door that used to close fine, a floor that feels off underfoot. Before you call anyone, here's what to check, measure and photograph, and how to tell urgent from ordinary.
17 September 2026
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Underpinning
Concrete underpinning, step by step
Mass concrete underpinning doesn't happen in one continuous trench — it happens in a carefully staggered sequence of bays. Here's what that actually looks like on site, bay by bay, and why skipping the sequence is dangerous.
14 September 2026
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Restumping
Reblocking vs restumping: is there actually a difference?
Two words, one job — except when a quote uses both of them and means two different things. Here's the genuine confusion behind 'reblocking vs restumping', and how to tell what you're actually being quoted for.
10 September 2026
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Restumping
"Pier and beam foundation repair" — what that means in Australia
Searched 'pier and beam foundation repair' and landed on American content that doesn't quite fit your Melbourne house? Here's the vocabulary bridge — and why the repair itself is different too.
7 September 2026
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Underpinning
Can a leaking pipe make a house sink?
Yes — and in Melbourne it is one of the most common causes we find. A leak can make a house drop or lift depending on the soil, and finding it changes the entire repair.
4 September 2026
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Underpinning
How much does underpinning cost in Melbourne?
The honest answer is a range, and anyone who gives you a fixed number over the phone is guessing. Here's how underpinning is actually priced, pier by pier, and what makes one house cost double another.
4 September 2026
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Underpinning
AS 2870 soil classes, decoded
Every site report references AS 2870 — A, S, M, H1, H2, E — but almost nobody explains what those letters actually mean for the house you're standing in. Here's the plain-English version.
24 August 2026
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Underpinning
Resin injection vs traditional underpinning: which one fits?
Resin injection is faster, cheaper and far less disruptive than traditional underpinning — but it doesn't fix every problem. Here's how to tell which one your house actually needs.
24 August 2026
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Restumping
Restumping permits and the process, week by week
A building permit, a registered surveyor, staged inspections — restumping is a regulated process, not a weekend trade job. Here's what to expect week by week.
24 August 2026
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Underpinning
Wall cracks: when to worry, and when not to
Most wall cracks are cosmetic. The ones that aren't follow a pattern you can learn to read yourself, before you spend money finding out the hard way.
24 August 2026
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Underpinning
Why new homes on clay still crack
"But it's only ten years old" is the most common objection we hear. Here's the part nobody explains at settlement: a compliant slab was never built to stay still.
24 August 2026
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Restumping
Timber vs concrete stumps: which should you choose?
Concrete wins on paper almost every time — but not always, and not for the reason most quotes give. Here's what actually separates the two, stump by stump.
20 August 2026
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Restumping
Restumping vs underpinning: what's the difference?
Two services, two construction types, two failure modes. Confusing them is the single most expensive mistake in Melbourne foundation repair — here's how to tell them apart.
19 August 2026
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Underpinning
What is slab heave?
Most people assume a moving house is sinking. In Melbourne's west, it's often the opposite — the ground is pushing part of the slab up. Here's how heave works.
19 August 2026
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Underpinning
Reactive clay in Melbourne's west, explained
Why a ten-year-old house in Tarneit cracks while a hundred-year-old cottage in Yarraville does not — soil reactivity, AS 2870, and the difference between heave and settlement.
18 August 2026
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Restumping
7 signs your house needs restumping
Sloping floors and sticking doors do not automatically mean restumping. Here is how to read what your house is telling you — and which symptoms point somewhere else entirely.
18 August 2026
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Start with the service that matches your house
- Restumping & reblocking — timber-floored homes on stumps, generally pre-1970.
- Underpinning & foundation repair — brick veneer on a concrete slab, on reactive clay.
- Service areas — the local detail for your suburb.