Saving old stumps

[Ashwood]

Hi,

I'm trying to save the existing timber stumps in my Melbourne weatherboard house. I don't want to level the house as it would crack-up the reno which the previous owner's did. I'm planning to do it myself as the fees quoted by contractors were really high.

I've heard of "stump-savers", which are steel brackets which transfer the load of the stumps via bolts to the horizontal plates which then sit on the ground. But can't seem to find any in Melbourne.

Anyone have any clues?

Also, where would be a good place to buy new stumps in Melbourne - I'm thinking of adding a few new ones to supplement the "saved' ones.
:confused:

[OBBob]

Hi there, Any timber yard should be able to sell you redgum stumps but mostly concrete is the go these days. You can order any length and for restumping they come with a stell loop on either side, so you can hange the stump under the bearer then just backfil the hole with concrete.

I've never heard of stump savers but I don't like the sound of them. The idea is to get down into solid ground (clay or rock). When you put in a nowmal stump you would dig down to clay or rock, then pour about a 300mm diameter pad ... this is your load speader, which you then place you stump on top of and back fill. I'd be surprised if the stump saver had a 300mm diamerter load speader to start with and then it is only going to rest on top soil.

Maybe I'm, missing the point?

[Ashwood]

Hi there,

Thanks for your advice. So I should be able to find concrete stumps at timber yards?

I haven't seen any myself, but was told about this. I did some searching on the internet and found the following in Adelaide - emailed them, but they never replied. http://adelaide.citysearch.com.au/E/...1/90/84/5.html

Your logic makes good sense (getting to hard clay or rock), but this is trying to find alternatives, since this product does exist in some places.
I did try digging a little, but the soil is hard as rock anyway, probably because there's little topsoil and it has had about 50 years to settle.

What I might do if this stump savers work out, is do a combination - perhaps stump savers plus additional stumps in selected areas eg. round the perimeter and few scattered in the middle (instead of removing the old ones - why not take advantage of both, since I haven't got any space constraint below the house??). Does this make sense??

Would appreciate your views as well as comments from anyone who's tried any of this stuff.

Cheers.

[Ashwood]

Hi there,

Thanks for your advice. So I should be able to find concrete stumps at timber yards?

I haven't seen any (stump savers) myself, but was told about this. I did some searching on the internet and found the following in Adelaide - emailed them, but they never replied. http://adelaide.citysearch.com.au/E/...1/90/84/5.html

Your logic makes good sense (getting to hard clay or rock), but this is me trying to find alternatives, since this product does exist in some places.
I did try digging a little, but the soil is hard as rock anyway, probably because there's little topsoil and it has had about 50 years to settle.

What I might do if this stump savers work out, is do a combination - perhaps stump savers plus additional stumps in selected areas eg. round the perimeter and few scattered in the middle (instead of removing the old ones - why not take advantage of both, since I haven't got any space constraint below the house??). Does this make sense??

Would appreciate your views as well as comments from anyone who's tried any of this stuff.

Cheers.

[OBBob]

Wow ... I'd be interested to know what others think about that system?? But if that was OK we wouldn't need to dig all thos bloody stump holes and I'm sure that isn't for fun!

Cope (http://www.copeindustries.com.au/) is probably the largest concrete stump manufacturer in Melbourne. They sold / delivered direct to me but I oredered 60. You would be able to go through a timber yard but they may not have the length you want in stock (wouldn't take long to get though).

Really levelling is the tricky bit, so if you happy with that I'd do the new stumps properly. If you have a bit of space under the house it isn't that hard. Have a crawl under the house and knock the redgum stumps on the side with a hammer, they will have rotted below the ground level if they are bad and you will be able to hear the difference between the solid ones and the rotten ones. They may even move.

Then you may find that there aren't that manay that need replacing yet, they can last a long time if the air flow is good. So take each dodgy one at a time and put a hydraulic bottle jack under the bearer on each side
of the stump with a load spreding plat under the jack. The jacks then support the load of the house while you put out the old stump and dig down to solid ground ... how deep that is depends on your area. Then you can hang your new concrete stump off the bearer making sure that there is at least 200mm clearance from the base of the stump to the base of the hole. Fill the 200mm gap with concrete, so that you create a plate under the stump (again dependant on the house and area but probably about 300mm diameter would be good). Backfill the hole with soil, then wait a week or so for the concrete to set and remove the jacks.

Could be a long process if you have a lot to do and don't have a lot of jacks but not too complicated. Hope it helps??

[OBBob]

Sorry ... one more point.

You will find it a lot easier to dig your post hole where there was already a stump. Digging holes for new stumps doesn't sound like much fun to me ... I'd be inclined to see which ones really need doing and do them properly.

[Tools]

Brroks Home HArdware in caulfield have them , but I don't like the idea. They used to be in many hardaware shops 10 years ago, but they seem to have almost disappeared.

Tools

[echnidna]

From memory the stump savers were dearer than the cost of a new stump.

[Ashwood]

Thanks guys for your comments & leads.

I'll give the concrete stumps a go. One more question from the procedure ... bottle jacks, yet another item showing my ignorance - any suggestions on where to find this, what size or capacity?? Any idea how much they cost?

[OBBob]

Bottle jacks are hydraulic jacks, much like a trolley jack for a car except they don't roll. I think you get them at an auto store or hardware, they'd probably be rated at a couple of Tone, which would be fine. If you are only doing a few stumps at a time all the remainign stumps will continue to support the house. When the professions do a whole house, they jack the entire house up on these jacks, which is where DIYers have killed themselves in the past because the house collapes etc.

It's much like a car, you wouldn't jump under a car one trolley jack ... you put some stands or other jacks under to ensure that if one fails it isn't then end of you.