Reblocking in Williamstown and Newport

Old houses by the water

Williamstown grew as a port town, and its streets are lined with cottages and villas from the 1800s and early 1900s, in timber, brick and bluestone. Many of the timber homes sit on stumps that have been there for generations.

Newport developed alongside the railway workshops, and its older streets have a similar mix of workers' cottages, Edwardian weatherboards and later interwar homes, along with postwar housing further from the station.

Both suburbs are in Hobsons Bay, and both have large areas under heritage overlays.

Salt and damp

Living near the bay brings its own subfloor problems. Salt-laden air and moisture speed up corrosion of nails, bolts, stirrups and straps under the house. In low-lying parts of Williamstown, groundwater and poor drainage can keep the subfloor damp through winter. Timber stumps and bearers sitting in that environment rot faster than they would further inland.

When we reblock near the water, we pay close attention to the fixings and ties used, ventilation under the floor and how water drains away from the house.

Basalt here too

Even close to the bay, Williamstown and Newport largely sit on basalt and the reactive clay above it. In some pockets the rock is close to the surface. That can make footing holes slow to dig, but sound rock also gives a firm base to work from.

Heritage considerations

Many homes here are under heritage overlays. A reblock is mostly hidden work, and the new stumps sit behind the existing base boards, lattice or plinth. Where the work would change anything visible, such as raising the house, altering the front verandah or replacing base cladding facing the street, it is worth asking Hobsons Bay council whether a planning permit is needed first.

Bluestone and brick plinths

Some older homes here have a bluestone or brick plinth along the front or sides, with timber stumps inside. Where the plinth has moved, it may need its own repair, sometimes underpinning, alongside the reblock. We look at the whole subfloor so that both parts are dealt with properly.

What we often find

• Stumps badly rotted at the base, especially on the shaded, damp side of the house.
• Rusted fixings and straps under homes close to the water.
• Old bluestone or brick footings that have shifted differently from the timber stumps.
• Rear extensions on separate stumps that have dropped away from the original house.
• Poor ventilation where vents have been covered by later work.