Mass concrete underpinning
Sections are excavated beneath the existing footing and filled with concrete to extend the foundation down to stable soil. Proven and cost-effective for many homes.
Underpinning & Foundation Repair
Underpinning in Melbourne
Subsidence cracks, dropping corners, movement that won’t stop? We stabilise foundations with engineered underpinning — and stop the damage getting worse.
When the ground beneath a home moves, the foundations move with it — and the cracks, racked doorframes and uneven floors follow. Underpinning rebuilds support beneath your footings so the structure sits on stable ground again.
When restumping isn’t enough
For many timber-floored Melbourne homes, restumping solves the problem. But where the foundation itself has subsided — common with brick homes, slab edges and houses on heaving clay — the footings need to be deepened and stabilised. That’s underpinning. Some homes need a combination of both, which is exactly what a proper inspection determines.
How we underpin
Screw-pile underpinning
Galvanised steel screw piles are driven to load-bearing strata and bracketed to the footing. Fast, low-vibration, and ideal for deeper or trickier ground.
Re-levelling
Where a structure has dropped, controlled jacking on the new supports can recover much of the lost level before the foundation is locked off.
Engineered and certified
Underpinning is structural work that must be designed and certified. Every job we do is backed by engineering computations, carried out under a building permit, and signed off by a registered building surveyor — so you have the documentation you’ll need if you ever sell.
Underpinning FAQs
Common underpinning questions
What is underpinning?
Underpinning strengthens and stabilises a foundation that has subsided or is no longer supporting the building properly. New load-bearing support is installed beneath the existing footings — using mass concrete or screw piles — to transfer the load to stable ground deeper down.
What’s the difference between underpinning and restumping?
Restumping replaces the stumps that support a timber-floored home. Underpinning stabilises and deepens the foundations themselves — often used for brick homes, slab edges, or where the ground beneath has moved. Some jobs need both. We’ll advise which your home requires at the inspection.
What causes foundation subsidence in Melbourne?
Melbourne’s reactive clay soils swell when wet and shrink when dry, which moves footings up and down over the seasons. Add poor drainage, leaking pipes, tree roots and older shallow footings, and you get the cracking and movement that underpinning fixes.
How do I know if I need underpinning?
Stair-step cracks in brickwork, cracks wider at the top than the bottom, doors and windows racking out of square, and cracks that keep growing are classic subsidence signs. Book a free assessment and we’ll diagnose the cause before recommending any work.
Get a free underpinning assessment
Worried about cracking or movement? Book a free on-site assessment and we’ll diagnose the cause and quote a fixed-price fix.