Our Solutions
Underpinning Canberra
What is underpinning?
Underpinning is a process that strengthens the foundations underneath homes allowing additional loads. Most importantly, underpinning corrects subsidence to stop Canberra homes from sinking and getting damaged even more.
Underpinning can be a massive undertaking and commitment for Canberra homeowners and the builders and engineers carrying out repairs. For this reason, it’s important for Canberra homeowners to understand why their home is subsiding.
It’s also important for Canberra homeowners to understand the various underpinning methods available, their advantages and disadvantages.
Why is underpinning essential to a sinking Canberra home?
When a Canberra home suffers subsidence, an immense amount of force is being exerted onto the home’s structure. When ignored for too long, the force eventually strains the home’s foundations, floors, walls, ceilings and even the roof.
If the subsidence isn’t stopped, foundational and structural issues can multiply to quickly escalate repair costs.
Underpinning is essential to stopping your Canberra home from sinking further and enduring more damage. Most importantly, underpinning will save you money and make your home safer to live in.
What causes homes in Canberra to subside?
Canberra's Soil Reactivity
Highly reactive clays throughout Canberra result in contracting soil during summer months
Winter Soil Expansion
During wet winter months, highly reactive clays throughout Canberra can expand dramatically
Rainfall Expands Clays
Annual rainfall of 635mm results in expanding reactive clays across varying areas of Canberra damaging thousands of homes over a year
Tree Roots
Thirsty tree roots and vegetation in many of Canberra’s suburbs can cause uneven ground and aerated soils
Poor Drainage Destabilizes
Poor drainage and disconnected downpipes in many Canberra homes can drench and destabilise ground
Cracked Pipes
Cracked clay pipes under many Canberra homes, especially old homes can also destabilise soils
What are the different types of underpinning used in Canberra?
Mass concrete underpinning
Mass concrete underpinning is the most commonly known type of underpinning in Canberra and is sometimes referred to as traditional underpinning. It involves excavation of large holes underneath a home to build box shaped piers to support a Canberra home’s structure.
While it may be the most well known method throughout Canberra, that doesn’t mean it’s the best. Mass concrete underpinning is expensive, disruptive, and can cause long-term damage to your Canberra home’s foundation.
Steel pile underpinning
Steel pile underpinning is an option for Canberra homes built on reclaimed land, flood-prone areas or land that used to be a bog. Steel piles are driven deep into the ground by specially adapted, tracked excavators. Much like mass concrete underpinning, this method can be expensive, and isn’t always effective for a Canberra home. In some cases, the steel piles can make structural problems worse by causing weak soil to shift even further.
Cement grout underpinning
Cement grout underpinning is a form of preventative maintenance for subsiding Canberra buildings and structures. Underpinning can be achieved by pumping a concrete mix or a non-shrink cement grout under structures to fill in large holes and voids. This underpinning method works well if the gaps below a Canberra building or structure are large and easy to find. However, this method can be very costly and time-consuming, and may not always be effective in stopping subsidence.
Geo-polymer Soil Stabilisation – GeoPoly™
Buildfix offers Canberra’s homeowners Geopoly™, an affordable, efficient and completely modern way to stop homes from sinking.
If you’re a Canberra homeowner who’s endured subsidence and just had enough, you’re in the right place. We offer you our very own, proprietary geopolymer soil stabilisation solution, Geopoly™. It’s easily the most advanced option on the market to underpin your Canberra home.
Using the latest geopolymer technology, it compacts weak ground and raises house foundations which may close up cracks and re-level your floors. More importantly, you can avoid the lengthy process of Canberra’s more traditional underpinning methods and the high price tag that can come with them.
If you’re looking for a quick and effective alternative that’s guaranteed to last, Geopoly™ is definitely the way to go.
GeoPoly™. Modern. Efficient. Affordable.
The solution you need to underpin your Canberra home successfully.
We’re Canberra’s best and most affordable underpinners by far!
We started Buildfix because we were concerned Canberra’s homeowners weren’t receiving the expertise, care and pricing they deserved.
10,000+ repair projects and tens of thousands of satisfied customers later, we’ve come to a unique understanding of the ground on which Canberra’s homes are built.
We’ve also developed a deep knowledge of Canberra’s residential buildings, whether they’re in Acton, Braddon, Hackett, Barton, Yarralumla, Forrest, Capital Hill, Griffith, Deakin, Red Hill, Molonglo Valley, Weston Creek or Garran.
Our skill, experience, proprietary technologies and understanding of Canberra’s land and homes places us perfectly to help you relevel and stabilise your home.
Our underpinning solution promises
FREE structural assessment
Our team will come to your home to see if it’s subsiding at no cost. Our quotes are free as well. Save money from the get-go.
Transparent quotes
After we’ve completed your quote, we don’t change it. We don’t add extra costs at the last minute. With us, there are no tricks, no games and zero surprises.
Permanent repair of subsidence
Using our techniques and proprietary technology GeoPoly™️, we can underpin and lift homes permanently. What we fix stays fixed. Everything comes with a 10-year warranty.
Minimal disruptions to your life and home
With our innovative, industry leading technology, repairing your home’s subsidence shouldn’t take more than a day, or two. We don’t excavate or pull anything apart.
Lower prices
With our leading techniques and technology, we work more accurately and more efficiently than anyone else. Underpinning should only cost between $4K to $16K*.
*Based on averages, subject to inspection.
We come to your house and assess for FREE
