Reblocking in Footscray, Seddon and West Footscray

The housing

Seddon and the older parts of Footscray are dense with Victorian and Edwardian workers' cottages, many single-fronted, built close to the street and close to each other. Further west, West Footscray shifts toward Edwardian and interwar weatherboards and Californian bungalows on slightly larger blocks, mixed with postwar homes and newer townhouses.

Most of these houses were originally stood on red gum or other hardwood stumps. Good hardwood lasts a long time, but a hundred years in damp clay is asking a lot. By now the stumps are often soft at the ground line, sunk unevenly, or have been patched with a mix of concrete, brick and timber by owners over the decades.

Heritage overlays

Large parts of Seddon and Footscray sit within heritage overlays under the Maribyrnong planning scheme. For reblocking, that rarely changes much: the work is underneath, and the stumps sit behind the existing base boards or plinth. If the work would alter what passers-by can see, for example lifting the whole house higher, replacing the front base cladding or altering the verandah, council may need to approve it first. We point out anything like that at the inspection.

Tight sites

Cottages here are often hard up against the boundary on one or both sides. Some have a side path you can barely walk down with a wheelbarrow, and some have none at all, with every bucket of spoil going out through the house or over the back fence. Low subfloors are common too. None of this stops a reblock, but it does affect how long the job takes and how it is organised, which is why we always look at access before giving you a figure.

Ground conditions

Footscray, Seddon and West Footscray are on the eastern edge of the basalt plain, falling toward the Maribyrnong River. The clay is reactive and in places quite shallow over rock. On higher ground, footing holes can hit basalt early. Near the river and around Stony Creek on the western side, the clay can be deeper and wetter.

Common problems we find

• Stumps rotted through at the base, particularly under kitchens, bathrooms and laundries.
• Floors dropping toward a rear lean-to that was added later on its own set of stumps.
• Old patch repairs with bricks, pavers and offcuts holding up bearers.
• Blocked subfloor vents behind later paths, decks and garden beds.
• Front rooms and back rooms at different levels, often by a surprising amount.

Renovating a cottage

Many Seddon and Footscray owners are extending at the back and opening up the living areas. Reblocking first is usually the sensible order. It gives the new work a level base to tie into, and it is far easier to replace stumps before new floors and joinery go in.