Hey PrepHole, I just built a dock. I haven’t built anything bigger than a secretary’s desk in shop class about 20 years ago, but after builders kept giving me quotes of $20K or more for a new dock, I decided to try to do it myself. I was encouraged by this board to build my daughter a bookcase a while back which gave me some confidence to try this. I am sure it’s not 100% square and I learned first hand how much of a pain in the ass driving the piles is, but I think it turned out okay for someone who knew very little about dock building. I am going to add some white facia boards to finish it off and will have saved about $18K and got some new tools out of the deal. Hopefully it doesn’t collapse during ice season.
Anyways, dock thread or deck thread or thread for DIY amateurs like myself.
Don't know shit about docks but that looks good lad.
I do know though that running a bubbler/aerator during winter helps prevent ice formation so maybe look into that to stop ice heave from pulling up your piles
Nice, what kind of body of water is it on and does it need to accomodate much height variation?
It’s on the Erie Canal just downstream of a lock. The water reaches the top of the shorter dock at its highest. I was lucky that I had the old dock connection point on shore to give me a frame of reference for height and to build from.
Thanks, was phone posting when I took the picture and forgot it would flip the image. Anyways, the bubbler is a great idea. I’ve been meaning to look into it. I don’t have power down there though, so I’ll have to figure that out
Here's another angle
why do you need a ladder
My kids like to swim. Also I already had one
that water looks disgusting
Damn fine dock anon. Excellent job.
Thanks, anon
I appreciate the advice. The bottom of the river is mostly rock after the initial muck and I don’t really have the equipment to drive steel pilings except for at the anchor point which was done prior to me living here. The old dock was crushed by a tree and was aluminum. It held up pretty well other than the tree thing.
Any links/instructions for a method for adding aluminum legs and what materials you use? I will also definitely take your advice on the weatherproofing.
I don't have links as everything I've learned has been experiential, but I recommend 1/8" wall 3" diameter aluminum pipe. Ideally you would weld the 3" onto 90 degree bracket, but in your case I think your existing method of a couple bolts though to the wood is probably just fine. Stainless steel nuts and bolts are advisable but most bolts will outlive even treated wood. We often use 4" stainless steel hitch pins in the place of bolts if regular adjustments are needed.
When it comes to driving in the legs, there's no fun way to do it. You can try adding a bit of a chisel edge to the end of the pipe, but ultimately nothing I have found has replaced the sledge hammer (unless you can get an mini excavator in there lol)
Also, I recommend calling around a bit when shopping for aluminum. Often prices are super inflated during the summer in ares with a lot of docks.
Okay I’ll see what I can do. Most of the professional companies here seem to use a floating platform and some sort of powered hammer to put them in. The house two rocks down was having some work done as I was finishing up and that’s how they were doing it. I figured if the pickings started to go I’d just pay some to drive two more which would still be better than the price of an entire dock. I’ll make an attempt based on what you said though
It’s a muddy canal system so not looking at pristine waters, but it’s actually clean enough. It’s also water chestnut season which is what the green shit is
Frank?
Yeah I thought so anyways
I build docks. That is a nice dock, well done.
FYI, I also make a lot of $ pulling nice docks out of the water when wood legs rot off. They become liabilities to neighbors boats, and we charge a lot to haul water-logged wood up steep hills. In some cases underwater demo jobs can rival the price of a basic dock, and we get that price because people usually put it off until neighbors threaten lawsuits.
My advice would be to build some aluminum legs for that thing within a year, and it will easily triple the life of the structure. Also probably brush on some weatherproofing before doing those skirt boards.
Great build though, enjoy!
Looks good. I have limited dock repairing experience but I suspect that every bit of effort making the pylons last longer now will be worth it. Often the only thing left of them is the metal brackets. Can always smash in some aluminium sisters later I guess.
Jeff?
Square enough