Reblocking in Avondale Heights, Keilor East and Maribyrnong

The houses

Avondale Heights is largely 1960s and 1970s housing, with plenty of brick veneers and some weatherboards, many on blocks that fall toward the river. Keilor East has a mix of postwar weatherboards, brick veneers and later homes, again often on sloping ground near the river. Maribyrnong combines older houses near the river, postwar homes and newer developments.

Sloping blocks

Homes on a slope often have a high subfloor at the low end and very little clearance at the high end. That brings its own challenges:

• Tall stumps at the downhill end need to be strong and well braced.
• Low clearance at the uphill end makes access tight.
• Water running down the slope can collect under the house if drainage is poor.
• Movement can differ from one end of the house to the other.

Reblocking on a slope is very doable. It just needs more planning, and the surveyor or engineer may set specific requirements for tall stumps and bracing.

Ground conditions

Higher up, these suburbs sit on the basalt plain, with reactive clay and rock not far below in places. Down toward the river, the ground can change, with deeper or softer soils. A house that straddles a change in ground can move unevenly, which shows up as cracking and sloping floors.

Brick veneers

Many Avondale Heights and Keilor East homes are brick veneers with timber floors on stumps inside. If the internal floor is sloping but the brickwork is fine, reblocking the internal stumps may be all that is needed. If the brickwork is cracking, the footing under it may also need underpinning. We look at both.

What we commonly find

• Uneven settlement from one end of the house to the other on sloping blocks.
• Stumps with poor bracing at the high end of the subfloor.
• Damp and pooling water where drainage runs toward the house.
• Original timber stumps under older weatherboards in Keilor East and Maribyrnong.
• Cracked brick skins where the perimeter footing has moved.

Drainage on a hillside

Water always heads downhill, and on a river-facing block it often heads straight under the house. Agricultural drains cut in above the house, downpipes taken well clear of the footings and a subfloor that can breathe all help the clay stay more even through the year. When we reblock on a slope, we point out where the water is going and what would stop it pooling around the new footings.

Stairs, decks and split levels

Valley homes often have stairs down to a lower yard, a deck off the living area or a split-level floor plan. Each of those has its own supports, and they do not always move with the main house. During a reblock we check how decks and stairs tie in, so that a newly level floor does not leave a step or deck sitting out of line.