steel nails and screws will cost two or more times that of regular steel, and your supplier, be it a hardware store or home center, is not likely to have the variety in stainless that they have in coated steel. Other than a matter of preference, stainless might be a good choice if your dock will be over salt water. See if the manufacturer of the coated screws recommends their products’ use in salt environments. If you can’t find it in writing, you might want to give stainless serious consideration.
The Basic Dock Section
Plain and simple, this dock section is framed using nominal 2x6 (38- by 140-millimeter) stringers and 1x6 (19- by 140-millimeter) decking. With its timbers spaced about 2 feet (60.96 centimeters) apart, the capacity is sufficient for 40 pounds per square foot (1,900 N/m2). If made completely with PT wood, a 4-foot-wide by 10-foot-long (1.22- by 3.05-meter) section as shown here has a weight of about 200 pounds (90.8 kilograms). Use cedar decking on the PT frame and the weight drops to about 170 pounds (77.18 kilograms). Increase the frame to 2x8 (38 x 184 millimeters); with cedar decking it would weigh about 210 pounds (95.24 kilograms).
Frame Assembly
When building any dock section, lay out your cut framing members on a flat surface like a concrete floor or elevate them on sawhorses. Nail or screw the butt-joints together as shown in the plan. To prevent splitting at the end of a board while using structural screws, you may want to pre-drill. To reduce the chance of splitting the end of a board while using nails, blunt the tips of the nails. Once the frame is fastened together, check for squareness using your tape measure diagonally across opposite corners. Adjust while continually checking with the tape measure until the two measurements match.
Apply Decking
On a porch or deck, it is common to overhang the deck boards beyond the outside edge of the frame by a couple inches (a few centimeters). The nails or screws nearest the end of a deck board are less likely to split the board if back a few inches (several centimeters). Though seemingly helpful, this technique should not be used on docks, especially where boats could be moored alongside. Not only does it add edges, extended toward the boat that could gouge the boat’s finish, it provides an unwanted lip for the boat to catch from the underside of the decking. You can probably imagine some of the consequences when that happens. Deck boards should be cut flush to the outside face of the frame to provide a blunt surface. If you’re concerned about splitting the end of a deck board having the fasteners close to the end of the boards, then pre- drill in those spots. Blunting the nails will also help prevent splitting.
Tip:
To hold the frame’s squareness, begin with fastening down one deck board, flush with each end of the frame. Place additional deck boards on the frame and find the appropriate spacing between each one (no greater than ½" [13mm]). Begin nailing or screwing down deck boards near the center of the frame before working toward each end.
Easing the edge with a router or sander removes the sharp edge and prevents splintering.
When using wooden deck boards like PT or cedar, face the crown up when possible. Half of the time it seems the better side of a board is opposite to the crown. In that case, put the better side up.
On a 10-foot (3.05-meter) long dock section, the typical deck board that will vary slightly in width, when spaced evenly apart, will usually leave about a ½-inch (13-millimeter) gap between each board. The first and last deck board on the section should be flush with the end of the section. On your table saw, you can make wooden strip spacers to help position the boards at an even distance apart. Varying widths of the boards will likely require some improvising on the space for the last three of four. To prevent tripping, gaps between boards should not be greater than ½ inch (13 millimeters). If using new PT decking, which is usually very swollen with moisture when fresh from the lumberyard, prepare your material in advance, allowing time to dry and shrink closer to its finish size.
Once the decking is nailed or screwed down to the frame, the dock section will not skew under normal handling. For wooden decking such as cedar or PT, I recommend easing the top edge on all the ends of the deck boards, using a ⅜-inch (1-centimeter) radius bit on a router. A palm sander also does a nice job to ease the edges and smooth over the rough ends of deck boards.
Removable Decking
Consider making your decking into panels that lay and fasten on top of your dock section’s frame. That way, you can reduce the weight significantly when it is time to move the dock section to and from the water. You’ll also find the removable decking handy while working under your dock by moving panels back or out so that everything is reachable from the top side. Another key advantage to this is if you’re on a body of water that could rise significantly from unexpected profuse rain events. In this situation, the deck panels can be taken up quickly, leaving little surface area for the rising water with waves to lift and pound against.
For lightweight portability, consider making your decking into removable panels.
In the north, where docks are annually removed and stored on the shore for winter, wood decking will last much longer if laid flat, supported evenly into dry storage, such as a shed, garage, or under a camp. Leaving wood stacked under the damp evergreens to wick water into its cells, buried under feet of melting snow, or drawing moisture from damp ground will likely reduce the years you could get out of it. Finally, if you plan to re-treat your decking with a wood preservative, applying stains and clear coats should never be done over the water. Docks in the north that get removed after summer can be treated as they get stored on the ground. Otherwise, panels can be removed while the dock is installed and taken to dry ground before applying your preservative.
Removable decking does compromise torsional strength and some of the rigidity you get from permanent decking. You’ll also need to think about the placement of some accessories that utilize permanent decking for proper and safe attachment, such as a tie-off cleat or ladder rails that bolt through the deck. Nevertheless, its benefits are rewarding enough to earn serious consideration by DIYers, and a willingness to work around its inherent compromises. You could opt to build it with removable decking, and if not satisfied after some experience, screw it down permanently. I have had it on my dock for years and couldn’t be more satisfied. In places where I have a cleat or ladder, my decking is screwed in permanently. I then panelize where I can to get the advantage where possible. Typically, my panels are all the same size on all my sections, but where I need permanent boards, my panels on that section are smaller in size. At the end of this chapter you’ll find the plans that I built my sections from. Alter them as you see fit to suit your personal needs for the attachment of permanent deck accessories.
Solid synthetic decking made to resemble wood.
Synthetic Decking
For a low-maintenance option, when talking about synthetic deck boards made by process of extrusion or pultrusion, you could mean one of seemingly endless companies, brand names, and products.
Just when I think I’ve seen them all, another one appears on the market. If you’re serious about this option over wood decking, naturally there is the convenience factor when going with a product carried by your local lumberyards. When you search beyond your backyard, the options