Stumped

[Mambo Gambo]

a) hi all!!!
b) I apologise in advance if this topic has been discussed previously and swear on my new Woodwork Forums membership that I have been searching for the last few hours for threads related to this so i'd luvva bitta 'elp please...

Just moved into a nice little euro cottage in coburg which was re-stumped about a year ago. the stupms are of the 100 x 100 moulded concrete variety and stand about 750 at the highest side (the house is built on a slope). its a pretty attractive house but for the now exposed concrete so i am wanting to hide the with hirizontal planks. some of the old ones aer still attached on the other side of the house where the stumps werent replaced or didn't exist so i'd like to keep the look.

HOWEVER, here is the issue...

There are some sort of hardwood posts sitting against the concrete stumps, which were apparently supposed to be fixed to the concrete stumps (somehow) at the time of re-stumping, which would allow me to go on quite happily with the attaching of said planks. These are not attached though and when i drove the first nail in, the posts shot backwards at a rate of knots and i was then forced to crawl under the house to retreve it, swear and go in a make a cuppa and get online and joind a forum where folks hear this kinda stuff all the time and can help... wink wink...

So, how would i fix these posts to the stumps?
Is nailing the best method for attaching the planks?

I am also wondering if there is a standard gap that i must adhere to to retain adequate ventilation under the house?

Eagertogetintoit,

Gambo

[tcns]

Do you have a digital camera - a pickky would be a great help

Thanks
Tom

[LineLefty]

Restumping....uuurgh. We nearly bought a house that'd been 'restumped' Luckily we got a restumping expert out to havea look and sure enough only the perimiter stumps had been done. (a $1000 job.) The interioir stumps....hadn't (a $20k job with no under house access). And she was sinkin'

After a few legalese letters form the lawyers we lost our 1k deposit and hit the road.

[Gumby]

Not sure on the attaching method but I'm sure somebody will know. Just make sure that when you do put the hardwood on the stump, make sure it isn't in contact with the ground. If you don't you'll end up with visitors from beneath the earth. :(

[Eastie]

The usual method is to use a durable hardwood or better still H4 treated pine and sink the uprights into the ground alongside the stump (normally done when they pour the concrete for the stump though). Cut them to the full height sitting hard against the ant cap (if you have ant caps). Skew nail them through the ant cap into the bearer. For extra support, at every couple of stumps and at corners apply some sikaflex adhesive (clamp in place until set) as well to ensure they stay in place. Nailing through the ant cap won't cause a problem and seeing as it's only the outside row it will be easy to see if termites emerge from the timber and build around the ant cap. If you haven't got ant caps - go for H4 treated timber and reseal any cut ends with a product called "Reseal" (copper chrome arsenic surface treatment by Protim).

Another option may be steel brackets used for fixing bracing to stumps. If you use these it would mean no digging but you would have to route the lining boards to accept them. Alan Cope Industries should have a range of brackets.

[craigb]

I'm a bit bemused by this re-stumping thing.

I've never heard of a house in Sydney having it done.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen just that it must be a pretty rare occurence here.

So why do houses need to be re-stumped in Vic and elsewhere?

Why didn;t they just put in proper brick foundations in the first place ? :confused: :confused:

[Gumby]

Stumps were traditionally redgum, which rot over time. Concrete stumps came in to stop that problem but they will still sink if the ground moves, particularly in out east Melbourne where we are on a clay base. It shrinks depending on the weather and over the past 5 years, with the drought, there's been a lot of homes with cracks due to sinking foundations and stumps.

[Termite]

I'm a bit bemused by this re-stumping thing.

I've never heard of a house in Sydney having it done.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen just that it must be a pretty rare occurence here.

So why do houses need to be re-stumped in Vic and elsewhere?

Why didn;t they just put in proper brick foundations in the first place ? :confused: :confused:
Craig mate, were talking about Victoria, need I say more? :D

[craigb]

Yes, but why not just use a concrete footing and then a brick pier? :confused:

Post Script:
Righto Termite. I think we hit enter at the same time :o

[LineLefty]

You have to understand that after hte war these timber-frame fibro house went up in a VERY short period of time. In WA construction gangs of 20 blokes would put the frame and fibro up in a coupla days. So there was no time to go sinking concrete piers. You jsut dig a hole and set a stump in the the hole.

[Mambo Gambo]

Thank you all for the replies so far.

I do have a digital camera and will get some pics as soon as this torrential rain dies down. Hey, who knows, the house may have gained a few hundred mil in height by that time (Yeah clay). I will also try and find out what type of wood the posts are that will attach to the stumps. I do not think that they are

This is starting to sound a bit more expensive than originally intended but lets see what comes of it once i get more details.

thanks again.

[aussiecolector]

Rain? all we have here is dust, clouds of it. I would use batton screws to fix the planks to vertical timber.

[markharrison]

Termite,

It isn't just a Vic thing. It is a topic of much discussion at Qld BBQ's as well. Well, it was in the past. These days almost all houses in Qld are built on concrete slab foundations, regardless of whether they are in a flood plain or not :-)

Same here in Sydney. Don't know if you know the Northern Beaches in Sydney very well but there was a huge development of home sites in the Warriewood Valley that for however cheap (and they weren't) I would never buy. Guess what, they are all sitting on the ground!

There's the wonder of Pittwater Council. [sigh] I need a DA to replace an existing driveway or paint the house a different colour, put up a canvas awning, put up a garden shed, put in a footpath or steps on the ground and these clowns can get away with that rubbish. No, I am not exaggerating! My DA was initially knocked back because of the colour we chose. The colour we chose is similar to dark yellow mustard seeds. Not exactly air sea rescue orange!

I'm not bitter, honest, no really, I'm not.... Nurse, can I have my pills now?

[soundman]

Here in the land of the house on stumps the common way is to fix the hardwood batten to the side of the stump with the top of the batten clear of the ant cap & the bottom well clear of the ground.
These days you would do this with small masonry anchors, being carefull to not get over keen with the size or the spanner & split/ crack the stump.
On my mums old housing commision job they were nailed into wooden plugs set into the stumps.

Why don't you use brick piers?!!
Bricks are for rich bar$#@%&s, if we had the money for bricks do you think we would be building houses from wheather boards or fibro.

Stumps went out of fashion when southeners & cheap earthmooving equipment came to town.

A house on stumps is still the best for the climate up here & 6" is the ideal stump length because you don't bump your head But they wont let you build under there.

Pitty the first thing southerners want to do is jack the things up & build em in.
Whats the point & where does the dog lie in the heat of the day.
Remember chaps "underneath" is the "outside" & officialy the domain of man & dog a cool place for workshops & cool beer on a hot day. Build it in, Its then officialy inside & youve lost it for good.

cheers

[jackiew]

I was recently told by a stumping installer NOT to screw directly into concrete stumps. if your area is not termite prone you can dig a hole next to your stump) and have your termite resistant (just in case ) timber at a length such that it is firmly wedged against the bearer ( i.e. you more or less have to hammer it in place ) as well as having its bottom end firmly sunk into the ground. His other solution has already been mentioned - fix the posts using some kind of straps - i've seen what looks like big metal cable ties used.

if you are on a sloping site you can make the horizontal batten at the bottom out of something like fibro ( it will be wedge shaped to fit the slope ) and paint it to match the timber battens above it - that way you don't have either a gaping hole at the bottom on the high side or the timber battens on the low side in contact with the ground.

[Mambo Gambo]

Well i have been watching the posts come in and feel that for my current abilities and budget, the steel ties/strapping would seem the best way to go about this. There also seems to be a general concensis that the posts be cut to a length so they sit above the ground. The posts currently seem to be sunk to the same depth as the stumps.

Would it be likely that the straps will loosen over time causing the posts to slip and the boards to float out of line if i do cut the posts shorter than the stumps?

I have attached the post rain pics. you should get the idea of whats happeining. the nail is the one i drove in whil attaching the first plank. in removing the plan from the post, the nail decided that it would be much lees effort to go through the plank instead of coming out of the post. I would therefore assume that i'm dealing with some pretty hard wood. anyone got a more detailed analisys???

The response os awesome. Thanks heaps.

Gambo

[barnsey]

Hi there Gambo,

I've had two houses restumped - one in West Brunswick and one in Essendon.
The originals were Jarrah stumps!! Made great table legs and lamp bases :D

When I did the outside I used treated pine 4x2 cut so that it was clear of the ant caps and about an 1 1/2" clear of the ground. Drill two holes in the stumps to take plastic plugs suitable for 1/4" coach screws. Drill the timber with 1/4" clearance holes. Be generous with the clearance coz you will get some drift with the drills in both the timber and the concrete. Use a large flat gal washer under the head of the 3" zinc plated coach scews and insert them into the holes/plugs with your rechargeable drill set at a moderate torque setting and then you can nail without fear of anything moving - ever. :D

By the way, at the point where you have the maximum clearance make sure you either hinge a section of the planking or make a removable panel so you have access under the house. ;)

Well that's my experience anyway :p

Jamie