at my store, water is near in every direction.
So that you’re not on a wild goose chase, I’ve limited the material requirements to what you would expect is on hand at your local building supply along with specialty dock components that, if not found at a local retailer, can be easily found online. Where codes and conditions require heavy pilings to be driven, I recommend that you hire that part out to a qualified marine contractor, just as you would likely hire a concrete foundation contractor for the house you plan to build. Once your marine contractor has left you with pre-installed heavy pilings, follow my step-by-step instructions to build your heavy dock or pier upon them.
In upcoming chapters, I’ve presented four classifications of docks that you can build using wood:
• fixed,
• floating,
• fixed to floating,
• rolling portable.
With each one, I’ll provide a summary of the benefits and a description of the types of environments where they are suited for use. I’ve included a special chapter about the nature of tidal waters and rivers with some important advisories to consider for docks in these places. I will also help you complete a site survey where you will learn my approach to decisions such as choosing the best location for a dock on the property, choosing the best classification or type of dock, the size limits, and distance the dock should extend out. Along with it constituting your mapped-out plan, the site survey exercise will help to separate your good ideas from bad ones, cement the good ideas into actions, and thwart a bad decision from coming to fruition. Finally, this guidebook would not be complete without tips for installing your dock into the water, where the dock will be a splash. Each classification of dock has its own details for setup that follows its construction details. Begin with the Special Safety Measures (right column) before you take to the shore with your project.
With the help of specialty dock components, DIYers connect two sections of floating dock together.
Even after you’ve completed your project with the help from this book, much of the information covered will not become obsolete, making this book a relevant resource for many years to come. For as long as you and your family have anything to do with docks, keep this book handy for future reference.
Special Safety Measures
From start to finish, operating safely is the most important objective through the process for any project. I always encourage people to follow the safety precautions that come with any of the equipment you’ll be using. From my years of working on docks, hearing about or bearing witness to human failures, I want to share with you some precautions specific to working on or around the water.
• When it’s strength you lack, someone should “have your back.” Objects too heavy for you deserve patience and additional help.
• Even the best swimmer should wear a life vest when working where the water’s deep. Have you ever tread water with work boots on? I hope you’ll never have to.
• Seatbelts saves lives; safety glasses saves eyes. Eye injuries are caused by the “darndest” things—the thing you weren’t expecting.
• Sandals are shoddy shoes for doing dock work. Covering your bases means covering your feet.
• Know where you’re stepping. On the golf course, try for a hole in one. On the jobsite, don’t be the one in the hole.
Most of the dock methods featured in this book are comprised of portable, standard-size sections.
• Good gloves means glad hands. Be prepared—you may not know entirely what your hands will get into.
• On the pond or pool, the fool holds a corded tool. Stick with cordless tools when near or over water.
• When there is lightning about, it’s time to clear out. I know the job is important to you, but so is your life.
• Overhead and under feet, no power line is safe to meet. Be aware of all electrical lines near your work. Sometimes it’s easy to assume there is none near the water—you should never assume.
• If it’s windy and choppy, the dock work is sloppy. Choose your time of day wisely. The work goes much better when conditions are calm.
• Onlookers are obstacles. We can’t blame them for wanting to watch, just keep them at a safe distance.
• Critters count. Always treat wildlife and pets with respect. Their safety is important too.
• Buddies are the best. Working alone leaves no one to help if you get into trouble.
• Is your equipment right or will it bite? Make sure your tools are all in good working order and safe to use.
• Secure the scene. Leaving your jobsite on the fly, considers not the passerby. Defuse all traps before you go, moor what matters the wind could blow. For the short time you’re away could make or break someone’s day.
CHAPTER 1:
PERMITTING
Seek permission before starting any kind of dock project. You need to know what you can do legally before the dream gets too far ahead of reality. Oftentimes, in rural country, folks feel removed from their government and seem surprised or dismayed when I broach the subject with them. I recommend going online to your local town, city council, municipality, or county website to the building and or environmental code section to learn about dock permit requirements. Most often, standard codes begin at the top levels of government. In Canada, that would be the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. In the United States, it would be the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along with the department within a state or county government, with a title such as Natural Resources or Environmental Protection. Codes are often handed down from top levels of government to local levels. Local levels of government may have the authority allowed by upper levels to add more stringent codes within their jurisdiction than what is administered from above. By beginning at the local council level with your inquiry, I expect you’ll find guidance on what is required. Depending on the location, I’ve experienced a broad range of possibilities, such as no permit required at all to acquiring multiple permits from different agencies. If your project is in a location so rural and far removed from the jurisdiction of any kind of local government, then likely there is a commission or department at the province or state level where you should inquire that manages unorganized territory. If you find there is absolutely no regulation for your waterfront, the best policy is self-regulation. A dock that is environmentally safe, non-offensive, and doesn’t reasonably compromise someone else’s enjoyment may keep unwanted over-regulation out.
Sometimes, talking with a neighbor who has a dock and has the experience to advise can save you some time, but it’s not uncommon, especially in rural areas, to hear the neighbor say, “You don’t need a permit; I never bothered to get one.” That may be what you want to hear, but I recommend prudence and responsibility by checking with the local authority to be safe.
I hear this a lot too, “I’d rather beg for forgiveness than ask for permission.” This assumes that there is a good chance that if you build whatever you want, you can have it, and the authority probably won’t notice. In the unlikely event they discover you don’t have a permit, then you’ll talk your way out of trouble, cooperatively pay the fine, and pay for the permit to keep what you have built. Otherwise, if you ask for permission