Reblocking in St Albans, Ardeer and Deer Park

The housing mix

St Albans grew quickly in the postwar decades, and its older streets are full of weatherboard and fibro homes, many extended by hand over the years. Later came brick veneers from the 1960s and 1970s.

Ardeer is a small suburb of postwar homes beside Kororoit Creek, with modest weatherboards and fibro houses on generous blocks.

Deer Park has a mix of postwar homes in its older parts and newer housing further out.

Across all three, timber-floored homes on stumps are common, and many have additions built at different times on different stumps.

Hot, dry summers and reactive clay

Out on the plains, the clay dries hard in summer and cracks open wide. In winter it swells again. That cycle works away at stumps every year, and it is often worse on the western and northern sides of a house that take the full afternoon sun. Houses with large trees close by can see even more movement, as roots draw moisture from the clay.

Kororoit Creek

Kororoit Creek winds through Deer Park and past Ardeer on its way to the bay. Homes on lower ground nearby can have wetter subfloors, and the soil can stay damp longer after rain, which shortens the life of old timber under the floor.

Owner-built extensions

A lot of homes here have been extended over the decades, sometimes by the owners themselves. It is common to find a rear room, sleepout or enclosed verandah sitting on lighter or shallower stumps than the main house. Those sections often drop first. A partial reblock of the addition, or a full reblock to bring everything onto the same footing, can solve it.

Fibro and asbestos

Many postwar homes here were built or clad with fibro sheeting. Older fibro may contain asbestos. Reblocking normally does not disturb the walls, but if base sheeting has to come off for access, it should be tested first. We plan around it wherever possible.

Common findings

• Floors sloping toward additions built on lighter stumps.
• Rotten stumps and bearers under wet areas, especially older bathrooms and laundries.
• Stumps cracked or tilted where the clay has moved hard.
• Makeshift supports from earlier owner repairs.
• Brick veneer cracking where the outer skin footing has moved.

Trees and the clay

Big eucalypts and fast-growing hedges are common in older backyards out this way. Roots chase moisture, and in a dry spell they can dry out the clay under one corner of a house. That corner drops while the rest stays put. We note any large trees close to the house during the inspection, because a new set of stumps lasts better when the reason for the movement is understood.

Making an old house last

Plenty of families in St Albans and Deer Park have owned the same home for decades and want to keep it. A reblock, along with any framing repairs and a few drainage fixes, can give a postwar house a solid base for many more years, whether you plan to stay, extend or eventually sell.