u/WeedScaper

Hey all, hoping for some experienced eyes before we commit.

We’re looking at a house in SE Melbourne, built around 1990 (single storey, appears to be on stumps/bearers-and-joists, not slab) with an auction coming up in about 3 weeks. Walking through the main bedroom, there’s a clear and noticeable slope in the floor - it dips down toward the exterior wall/window. Hard to put an exact number on it, but it’s noticeable enough that you can feel it without trying, like you’re gently tilting toward that wall as you stand there.

Looking at the exterior near that same wall, the stump/subfloor area is slightly visible and there’s a small garden bed at the front.

Things I’m wondering:

1. Is a slope you can feel like this normally a sign of stump/subfloor movement, or could it be something more benign (eg. original build quality, minor settling)?

2. How common is this, and is it usually a straightforward (cheap) fix - releveling, packing/replacing stumps, or can it point to bigger structural issues? Or do I even need to worry about fixing it or not?

3. Anything else that I may have missed?

We’re planning to get a standard building inspection done before auction regardless, just want to go in already knowing the right questions to ask and roughly what kind of cost/risk range we might be looking at.

Photos of the slope area and the exterior stump/garden bed area attached for reference.

Thanks in advance.

Hey all, hoping for some experienced eyes before we commit.

We’re looking at a house in SE Melbourne, built around 1990 (single storey, appears to be on stumps/bearers-and-joists, not slab) with an auction coming up in about 3 weeks. Walking through the main bedroom, there’s a clear and noticeable slope in the floor - it dips down toward the exterior wall/window. Hard to put an exact number on it, but it’s noticeable enough that you can feel it without trying, like you’re gently tilting toward that wall as you stand there.

Looking at the exterior near that same wall, the stump/subfloor area is slightly visible and there’s a small garden bed at the front.

Things I’m wondering:

1. Is a slope you can feel like this normally a sign of stump/subfloor movement, or could it be something more benign (eg. original build quality, minor settling)?

2. How common is this, and is it usually a straightforward (cheap) fix - releveling, packing/replacing stumps, or can it point to bigger structural issues? Or do I even need to worry about fixing it or not?

3. Anything else that I may have missed?

We’re planning to get a standard building inspection done before auction regardless, just want to go in already knowing the right questions to ask and roughly what kind of cost/risk range we might be looking at.

Photos of the slope area and the exterior stump/garden bed area attached for reference.

Thanks in advance.