Guides and explainers

Plain-English, engineering-grounded answers on concrete cancer, house subsidence and underpinning. Start with the signs, understand the causes, then compare methods and costs before you talk to anyone.

Understand the problem

Structural vs cosmetic cracks: how to tell the difference

A practical way to read a crack in your wall, based on width, direction and behaviour, so you know whether it is harmless or worth an engineer's opinion.

Signs of house subsidence and foundation movement

The specific warning signs that a house is subsiding or its footings are moving, and what each one is telling you about the ground below.

What causes subsidence: reactive clay, trees and drainage

Why Australian homes move, from reactive clay soils that swell and shrink with moisture to thirsty trees, leaking pipes and poorly compacted fill.

Reactive clay and subsidence risk by Australian city

How Australia's AS 2870 reactive-clay classification works, and what the published geology of each major capital means for the chance of footing movement where you live.

What is concrete cancer?

Concrete cancer is corrosion of the steel reinforcement inside concrete. Here is the mechanism, the causes, and where it shows up in Australian buildings.

Concrete cancer repair: methods and the process

How concrete cancer is properly repaired, from removing failed concrete and treating the steel to patching, protecting and preventing it coming back.

Underpinning methods explained: which one suits your job

The main ways a footing is strengthened or re-supported in Australia, how each method works, and the situations each one suits.

Is subsidence and concrete cancer covered by home insurance?

Where Australian home insurance typically does and does not cover structural movement and concrete repair, and why you should check your policy first.

Plan the repair

Underpinning and concrete repair cost guide (Australia)

Realistic Australian price ranges for underpinning and concrete cancer repair in 2025, what drives the cost, and why quotes vary so widely.

Screw piles vs concrete vs resin vs house levelling: comparison

Cost, timeline, durability and the situations each one suits, side by side, so you know what to expect before an engineer or contractor recommends a method.

How to choose a remedial or underpinning contractor

The hiring checks that matter, from licensing and engineering to how a quote should be written, so you back the right contractor for a structural job.

What to expect: the underpinning repair process step by step

From the first crack you notice through engineer's report, quotes, the works themselves and monitoring afterwards, so you know what a proper job looks like.

How many contractors we list, by state and method

How many underpinning and remedial contractors we list today, by state and method, and what this snapshot does not tell you about the wider market.