The problem is under the house.
Sloping floors, sticking doors, cracking walls. Restumping, levelling and underpinning across the Gold Coast, carried out by appropriately licensed contractors.
Tell us what the house is doing
Describe the symptoms and the suburb and you will get a straight answer about whether it sounds like stumps, and what an inspection would involve. If it does not sound like stumps, you will be told that too.
If you are mid contract on a sale, say so and give the date. A deadline changes what needs to happen and in what order.
Request a quote
Most people do not go looking for a restumper. They go looking for an explanation.
A door that will not latch in summer. A gap opening up between the skirting and the floorboards. A dip in the hallway you have started stepping over without thinking about it. The fridge that rocks unless there is a folded coaster under one corner.
None of those things say "stumps" on their own. Houses move for all sorts of reasons on the Gold Coast, and some of them have nothing to do with the subfloor. Reactive clay soils swell and shrink through the wet and dry. A leaking downpipe can soften the ground under one corner of a house for years before anything shows inside. Older homes were often built on hardwood stumps that were expected to be replaced eventually, and eventually has usually arrived.
What matters is working out which of those is happening at your place, because the fix is different for each one. Replacing stumps under a house that is actually moving because of a drainage problem is money spent on the wrong thing.
That is the point of the first conversation. A contractor who knows what they are doing will want to look at the subfloor, the ground around the house and the pattern of the damage inside before quoting anything.
Nine things that usually mean the subfloor
Any one of these on its own might be nothing. Two or three together, especially if they are getting worse rather than staying the same, is worth having looked at.
- Doors and windows that stick, then free up, then stick againSeasonal movement. The frame is being pulled out of square by the floor underneath it, and the timing usually tracks the wet season.
- A visible slope or dip in the floorPut a ball on the floorboards. If it rolls the same direction every time in more than one room, the floor is not level and something under it has moved.
- Bounce or spring when you walk across a roomOften a bearer or joist problem rather than the stumps themselves, but the two frequently arrive together.
- Gaps opening between skirting boards and the floorThe wall and the floor are moving at different rates. Gaps that come and go with the seasons point at ground movement.
- Cracks in cornices, above doorways or through plasterDiagonal cracking running out from the corner of a door or window frame is the classic pattern for structural movement.
- Stumps you can push a screwdriver intoIf you can get under the house, try it. Sound hardwood resists. Rotted or termite affected timber gives way with almost no pressure.
- Stumps that are no longer plumbLook along the row. Leaning, twisted or visibly sunk stumps are doing less than they were designed to do.
- Mud tracks running up a stump or pierTermite workings. This one needs a licensed pest inspector, not just a restumper, and it needs one quickly.
- A building and pest report that flagged the subfloorVery common trigger, and usually the one with a deadline attached to it.
Services
Restumping is the headline, but most jobs turn out to involve two or three of these together. Each page explains what the work involves, when it is the right answer and what tends to drive the price.
House restumping
Full or partial replacement of the stumps supporting the floor frame, in concrete or galvanised steel.
Read more →Reblocking
The same work by its other name, plus resetting and repacking bearers so the floor sits true again.
Read more →Underpinning
For homes on slabs or strip footings where the ground beneath the footing has moved rather than the stumps.
Read more →House raising
Lifting the whole house to gain legal height underneath, or to get clear of a flood level.
Read more →House levelling
Bringing an out of level floor back to plane without necessarily replacing every stump.
Read more →Concrete stumps
Precast stumps with galvanised ant caps, the long standing default for Queensland homes.
Read more →Steel stumps
Galvanised adjustable stumps that can be re levelled later without excavation.
Read more →Timber stump replacement
Replacing failed hardwood stumps, the most common reason older Gold Coast homes need work.
Read more →Termite damaged stumps
What has to happen first, and why the pest side and the structural side are two separate jobs.
Read more →Subfloor repairs
Bearers, joists, ant caps and ventilation, the parts that fail alongside the stumps.
Read more →Sloping and uneven floors
Working out what is actually causing it before anyone quotes on fixing it.
Read more →What it costs
What drives the price up and down on the Gold Coast, and what a quote should itemise.
Read more →Why houses here move
The Gold Coast is not one soil type and it is not one kind of housing stock, which is why advice that works in one suburb is useless three streets away.
West of the highway and through the hinterland, from Nerang and Mudgeeraba out toward Canungra and Tamborine, there is a lot of reactive clay. Clay takes on water and swells, then dries out and shrinks. A house sitting on it gets lifted and dropped by fractions of an inch, over and over, for decades. Footings and stumps that were adequate when the house went up slowly work loose.
Closer to the coast and through the canal estates the ground is sandier and often filled. Fill that was not compacted properly consolidates over time, and it rarely does so evenly.
Then there is water. Subtropical rainfall means a lot of water moving through the ground fast, and the low lying parts of the city carry flood overlays for a reason. Persistent moisture under a house is what turns a serviceable hardwood stump into a soft one.
And termites. South East Queensland has among the highest termite pressure in the country, and a timber stump in damp soil is the easiest possible way in.
Areas covered across the city and hinterland:
What actually happens on a restump
Worth knowing before you get quotes, because it tells you which questions to ask. A full restump on an average Gold Coast home is usually a one to two week job on site, though access and the state of the timbers can stretch that.
Inspection and levels
Someone gets under the house properly, checks every stump, the bearers, the joists and the ant caps, and takes floor levels through the house. Without levels, nobody knows how far out it is or where the low points are.
Scope and written quote
How many stumps, what material, whether bearers or joists need replacing, whether the floor is being brought back to level or just made stable, and what happens to services. Get it itemised.
Paperwork before anyone starts
Written contract, licence check, and home warranty insurance where the work is over the threshold. On a raise, building approval as well. This is the step people skip and regret.
Support and lift
The house is taken up on jacks sitting on temporary supports, a small amount at a time across many points at once. Going too fast or too unevenly is what cracks plaster and tiles.
Old stumps out, new ones in
Holes dug to the required depth, new stumps set plumb and concreted, ant caps fitted, bearers packed and fixed down. Depth matters more than most people expect in reactive clay.
Lower, level and make good
House brought down onto the new stumps, final levels taken, and the inevitable settling cracks in cornices and plaster dealt with. Ask up front whether making good is in the quote or not.
Two checks that cost nothing
Restumping is structural work. It is licensed for a reason, and the protections that exist only apply if the contractor has done things properly at the start.
Check the licence. The Queensland Building and Construction Commission keeps a public register. You can look up any contractor by name or licence number and see whether they are licensed, what class, and whether anything is recorded against them. It takes about a minute.
Check the insurance. Most residential building work in Queensland valued at more than $3,300, including materials, labour and GST, has to be covered by the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme. The licensed contractor takes the policy out and pays the premium before work starts, and you should receive a Notice of Cover confirming it. Structural defect cover runs for six years and six months from practical completion. If your contractor is not licensed, the scheme does not cover you at all.
Neither of these is a formality. They are the difference between having somewhere to go if the work goes wrong and having nowhere to go.
Check the current rules before you rely on this
This page describes Queensland licensing and home warranty requirements as they stood in August 2026. Thresholds, premiums and cover periods change.
The official source is the Queensland Building and Construction Commission. Go to qbcc.qld.gov.au and use the Home Owner Hub to search the licence register and read the current Queensland Home Warranty Scheme terms. Where anything on this page differs from the QBCC, they are right and we are not.
We are not lawyers and we are not the QBCC. For advice about your own situation, contact the QBCC directly, or speak to a solicitor if a contract or a dispute is involved.
What moves the price
Nobody can quote a restump off a phone call, and you should be wary of anyone who tries. What a contractor can do on the phone is tell you which of these applies to your place, which narrows the range a long way.
| Factor | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Stump count | The single biggest driver. A small cottage might have 30. A large Queenslander with extensions can run past 90. |
| Access | A high set house you can walk under is straightforward. A low set house where every stump has to be dug by hand in a 500mm crawl space costs considerably more for the same number of stumps. |
| Full or partial | Replacing the failed stumps only is cheaper today. Doing the lot means you are not back in five years for the ones you left. |
| Material | Concrete is usually the cheaper option. Galvanised steel costs more up front but can be re levelled later by adjustment rather than excavation. |
| Soil and depth | Reactive clay means deeper holes and more concrete. Rock means slower digging. |
| Bearers and joists | Rot and termite damage in the floor frame is common and often only visible once the sheeting or the old stumps come out. |
| Services | Plumbing, drainage and electrical under the house may need disconnecting and reconnecting by the relevant licensed trade. |
| Making good | Some plaster and cornice cracking is normal when a floor comes back to level. Whether repairs are included varies between quotes. |
When you compare quotes, compare what is in them rather than the number at the bottom. Two quotes with a large gap between them are usually not quoting the same job.
Things people ask
How do I know if my house needs restumping or just levelling?
Levelling brings the floor back to plane using the stumps that are already there, by adjusting or repacking them. It only works if those stumps are sound. If the stumps themselves are rotted, cracked, termite affected or sinking, levelling is a short term patch and the floor will go out again. The inspection is what tells you which situation you are in, and it should include actual floor levels rather than someone eyeballing it.
Do I need council approval to have my house restumped?
Straight restumping that replaces existing stumps at the same height is often treated as repair work and commonly does not need building approval. Raising the house is different, because it changes the building, and that generally does need approval through the City of Gold Coast or a private building certifier. Flood, character and other overlays can also apply depending on where the property sits. Since it depends on your specific property and what is being done, confirm it with the council or a certifier before work starts rather than assuming.
Can I stay in the house while the work is happening?
On many restumps, yes. The house is only ever lifted a small amount and it stays supported the whole time. What changes is that there will be noise, vibration, machinery in the yard and periods where water or power is off while services are disconnected. On a full house raise you will need to move out, usually for several weeks. Ask about this specifically when you are getting quotes, because it affects your costs as much as the quote does.
Will restumping crack my walls?
Some cracking in plaster, cornices and around door frames is normal and expected when a floor that has been out of level for years is brought back. The house has settled into its distorted shape and moving it back releases that. A careful contractor minimises it by lifting slowly and evenly across many points. What you want to establish before work starts is whether repairing that cracking is included in the quote, because it is often excluded.
Concrete or steel stumps, which is better?
Both are a long way ahead of timber. Concrete is the traditional Queensland choice, generally cheaper, and very durable in the ground. Galvanised steel costs more but has an adjustable head, so the house can be re levelled later by turning a thread rather than digging anything up, which is genuinely useful on reactive clay. Steel needs its galvanising intact to resist corrosion, which matters more in coastal and salt affected areas. There is a full comparison on the concrete versus steel page.
My building and pest report flagged the stumps and we are mid contract. What now?
This is one of the most common reasons people call. What you need quickly is a scope and a written quote, because that is what turns a vague inspector comment into a number that can be negotiated between buyer and seller. Timeframes under a contract are tight, so say on the phone that you are under contract and give the date. Whether the work happens before or after settlement, and who pays for it, is a matter for you and your solicitor rather than for a contractor.
How long does a full restump take?
For a typical Gold Coast home, usually one to two weeks on site once the job starts, plus lead time before that. Low set houses with poor access take longer because every hole is dug by hand. Wet weather stops work, since you cannot set stumps properly in a flooded hole, and on this coast that is worth building into your expectations rather than treating as a surprise.
What paperwork should I have before work starts?
A written contract with a clear scope and price, confirmation of the contractor's QBCC licence, and where the work is valued above the threshold, confirmation that home warranty insurance has been taken out, which arrives as a Notice of Cover. If the job involves raising the house, the building approval as well. If someone wants to start on a handshake and a verbal number, that is the point to stop.
Tell us what the house is doing
Describe the symptoms and the suburb and you will get a straight answer about whether it sounds like stumps, and what an inspection would involve. If it does not sound like stumps, you will be told that too.