What your weatherboard's era says about its stumps

Tell us when your house was built and we can usually tell you what's under it before we crawl under. Here's the cheat sheet.

Victorian & Federation (1880s–1915)

The river-port and gold towns — Echuca, Wangaratta, Ballarat district — are full of these beauties. Original red gum stumps, now 110–140 years old. Almost all have been restumped at least once; if yours hasn't, it's running on borrowed time and probably visibly moving. The good news: these frames are magnificent hardwood and respond beautifully to a proper restump and level.

Interwar (1920s–1930s)

Californian bungalows and interwar weatherboards. Red gum stumps now approaching the century. This is the era most commonly on second-generation stumps already — the question is whether that second generation (often 1970s–80s concrete) was done well and level.

Post-war & SEC boom (1945–1970)

The big regional expansion — Traralgon and the Valley especially, plus soldier-settlement and irrigation towns. Mostly timber stumps now 55–80 years old: squarely in the failure window. This is the single biggest restumping cohort in regional Victoria today. If your home is this era on original stumps, book a check even without symptoms.

1970s onward

Concrete stumps become standard. Most are fine; the exceptions are early thin-profile concrete stumps in reactive clay (cracking, tipping) and any era where drainage has been poor. Brick-veneer homes of this period still sit on stumps — the brick is cladding, not structure.

The takeaway

Era gives you the probability; only a subfloor inspection gives you the answer. Ours are free, photographed, and honest — including "it can wait".