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House stump

A house stump is a timber, concrete or steel post supporting the bearers of a raised subfloor (common in VIC and QLD); replacing failed stumps is called restumping.

By Dan Waring. Last updated 9 June 2026. Verified 9 June 2026.

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A house stump is a post that supports the bearers of a raised (suspended) timber subfloor, carrying the floor load down to a footing in the ground. Stumps are how a great many older houses (very common in Victoria and Queensland) are supported off the ground, and they come in three materials: timber, concrete, and steel (galvanised).

The three types in practice:

  • Timber stumps: the traditional option (often hardwood). Cheap and easy, but the ones in ground contact eventually rot or get attacked by termites, which is why old houses need work.
  • Concrete stumps: precast reinforced posts with a galvanised ant cap and bolt/bracket on top. The common modern replacement, durable and termite-proof.
  • Steel stumps / adjustable stumps: galvanised posts, often adjustable so the floor can be re-levelled later.

Each stump sits on a footing sized for the soil and load, and connects to the bearer with a bracket, plate, or coach screws. The framing rules sit under AS 1684 and the footing under the soil-class rules.

Restumping (also called reblocking) is replacing failed stumps under an existing house. It is needed when timber stumps rot or termites get in, or when the house has dropped or gone out of level as stumps sink or fail. The job involves jacking the house, removing the old stumps, pouring or setting new footings, installing new stumps, and re-levelling the floor.

For a builder or owner the practical points are: rot and termite damage to timber stumps is the usual driver, so inspect the subfloor; restumping is structural work that usually needs a permit and an engineer’s footing design (and on a reactive-soil site the footing matters as much as the stump); and a sticking door or sloping floor is often the first sign a stump has gone.

Also known as: Stump, restumping, reblocking, subfloor stump.

Category: Materials / Subfloor.

See also

References

Last updated: 2026-06-09. Verified: 2026-06-09. Quarterly review for currency.

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