10 questions that expose a cowboy restumper in minutes

Restumping has real professionals and real cowboys, and their quotes can look identical. These ten questions tell them apart — with the answers a professional gives.

1. "Will you arrange the building permit and engineering?" Right answer: "Yes, always — it's in the quote as a line item." Any hedging ("you don't really need one", "cheaper without") ends the conversation.
2. "How many stumps, and can I see your condition map?" A professional counted and mapped every stump during inspection. No count = no inspection = no quote worth holding.
3. "What material are you recommending and why for MY soil?" The answer should reference your actual ground, not a one-size default.
4. "Is the quote fixed? What could change it?" Fixed, in writing, with named exclusions (e.g. rotten bearers found on opening) and unit prices for those contingencies.
5. "How much will you lift the house, and what finish damage should I expect?" Honest answer includes hairline plaster cracking risk on big lifts. "No damage ever" is a sales pitch, not experience.
6. "Who actually does the work?" Own crew vs subcontracted matters for accountability. Either can be fine — vagueness isn't.
7. "What insurance do you carry?" Public liability (ask for the certificate) as a minimum, plus registration/licensing appropriate to the work. In Victoria, domestic building work over $10,000 requires a registered building practitioner, and work over $20,000 (new contracts from 1 July 2026) requires Home Warranty insurance — most full restumps cross both lines.
8. "What guarantee comes with the work, in writing?" Structural guarantees of 10+ years are standard from quality operators — get the words, not the vibe.
9. "When can you start, and how many days on site?" Specific scheduling reflects a real business. "Whenever you like, done in a day" for a 50-stump job reflects the opposite.
10. "Can I speak to two recent local customers?" The gold-standard question. Professionals have happy customers within 20 minutes' drive and offer them readily.

Print this list, ask all ten, and the decision usually makes itself.