Underpinning & subsidence
Cracking walls? Find the cause before you pay for piles.
A surprising share of the subsidence we’re called to assess is a plumbing leak or a drainage problem, not a footing problem. Fixing that is a fraction of the cost — and we’d rather tell you that.
Why Brisbane houses move
Almost always water — too much of it, too little of it, or in the wrong place.
How we assess it
Crack mapping and floor levels
We photograph and measure every crack, take a laser level survey of the floors, and work out the shape of the movement. That shape points to the cause.
Drainage and plumbing check
CCTV through the sewer and stormwater, plus a look at surface falls and downpipe discharge. If we find a leak, that gets fixed and monitored first — sometimes that’s the whole job.
Monitoring period, where appropriate
Tell-tales on the cracks and repeat level surveys over three to six months tell us whether it’s still moving or has stabilised. Underpinning a house that’s already stopped moving is money wasted.
Engineered underpinning, if it's needed
Screw piles driven to stable strata, brackets to the existing footing, and the affected section re-supported and re-levelled. Only the sections the engineer specifies — not the whole perimeter by default.
Common questions
A word on insurance
Most home policies exclude gradual subsidence caused by soil movement, but many do cover damage resulting from an escape of water — a burst or leaking pipe. That distinction is worth tens of thousands, and it turns entirely on the engineering report. We provide the crack survey, level survey, CCTV footage and engineer’s cause-of-damage opinion in a form insurers accept, and we’ll deal with their assessor on site. We don’t promise an outcome — but a properly documented claim is assessed very differently to a one-page quote.