What to Do Before Restumping Your House

If your house uses stumps as footing systems (vertical supports) for transferring building loads to its foundation, it may need to be restumped at some point in the future. Also referred to as house reblocking, house restumping is when a house is jacked up and the existing stumps are removed and replaced with new ones.

A house can be restumped either partially or fully. A partial restumping is required in situations where not all existing stumps of a house require replacement. A full restumping is done when all existing stumps need to be replaced. 

Before you can restump your house, here are a few critical things you'll need to do.

1. Determine if your house is worth restumping.

Depending on the extent of damage caused to your house, restumping can be a major and costly house repair job. Before you spend, it's important to have your house inspected by a structural engineer to assess if it's worth saving. 

If there are visible signs of major structural damage to the building due to poor construction or other issues unrelated to the condition of the existing stumps, it may be best to take down the entire structure and rebuild it from scratch.

2. Determine if you need to extend your home.

A home extension is an excellent way to add more living space to your home without having to move to a larger home. If you've overgrown your current home over the years, restumping may present the perfect opportunity to expand it. 

You can raise your home high enough to add extra rooms underneath it, for example. 

3. Determine which type of stumps to use.

Wood stumps are the traditional choice of stumps used in home construction. If you live in an older home, you probably have these stumps. 

While more durable wood stumps can be found on the market today, concrete and steel stumps are available, too. These timber alternatives cost more to buy, but they can last longer without requiring as much maintenance as wood.

Concrete and steel stumps are a great choice for homeowners living in areas with perennial wood rot problems. 

House restumping can be a dangerous job if it's not handled properly. If someone gets injured because you attempted a DIY restumping job, you may be held personally responsible for their injury. Contact a house restumping contractor near you to take the guesswork out of the job and keep everyone safe.


Share