Category Archives: Dock Repair

3 Tips to Get Your Dock Ready for Spring & Summer

Get ready to get back on the water! While we are currently in the middle of an extreme cold period with about a foot of snow in Indiana, we’re also about a month and a half away from Spring. No more cold weather! This means it is time to get all marine equipment ready for the upcoming season. Those that don’t prepare well will be sorry. If a piece of equipment got damaged by winter weather, ill-prepared waterfront owners will be stuck waiting to get on the water. And once dock company’s schedules start to get full it can take weeks to get something repaired. Today we’ll look at what to inspect to make sure your waterfront will be good to go in Spring.

How to Get Your Dock Ready for Boating Season

1. Inspecting Your Dock

Winter is harsh on docks. Snow and ice aren’t like rain in the summer that just drips right off, they pile on top and stay for a long time. So after sitting on top of a dock for several days or weeks, the weather starts to cause damage. So the first thing we should inspect when the weather is nice enough is the dock. First, inspect the decking. Make sure the material looks just as good as before with no rotting, splintering, cracks, or warps. Once you’ve noted the condition of the decking, move onto checking the frames. Look underneath your decking and make sure the frames aren’t warped or rusted. Make sure you notice if your dock is looking like it is sitting in the water lower than usual. It could be the entire system, or just one finger sitting a little low. If that’s the case, then the floats are damaged. Finally, inspect the anchoring and make sure it isn’t rusted or broken.

Now if you noticed any damage, it’s time to make sure to get it fixed now before the season starts. Fixing damaged decking, floats, or anchoring are small problems that can be fixed if caught early. These are all repairs that can be expensive of up to a few thousand dollars, but it’s nothing compared to spending tens of thousands on a brand new dock.  If the frames become severely warped or rust and break, then you’ll unfortunately probably have to replace the entire dock. Having an idea of what the damage on your dock is before you call in can help put your nerves at ease rather than waiting on a diagnosis.

2. Examining Your Boat Lift

Snow isn’t a real issue on boat lifts, but ice is. Instead of worrying about warping and cracking, you’ll need to worry if the lift is operational. Before we begin, always check your owner’s manual to see proper winterization techniques recommended from your manufacturer. There a lot of things that can get damaged during the winter on a boat lift. You could find damaged bolts, winches, power units, cables, bunks, or guides. After visually inspecting for wear and tear on any of these parts, it’s a good idea to cycle your lift up and down to make sure it’s working as intended. If you have a cable lift, be sure to listen closely and make sure you hear no snapping or noises coming from the cables. Unfortunately you can’t really replace a cable until it breaks, but it’s good to know it is coming rather than be surprised. For hydraulic lift owners, check your fluid and make it is filled to the appropriate level recommended by your manufacturer. Most issues and repairs needed for lifts will have to be dealt with by an expert. Fortunately, there are many experts with several years of experience at Deaton’s Waterfront Services.

Another aspect of getting your lift ready for the season is the canopy. Lift owners know to remove their canopy and store it for the winter to prevent tearing over the winter. If you leave a canopy on during the winter, snow is going to pile on top of it and destroy it. Call your local lift dealer and schedule them to store and reinstall your canopy every winter and fall. It will save you from having to replace a vinyl each season due to poor care.

3. Checking Your Seawall

The last piece of equipment you need to inspect is your seawall. Snow and ice will also warp and abuse a seawall during the winter. As water freezes and forms a layer of ice, it will push up against a seawall and try to morph it. As the sun appears during the day, it will cause the ice to start to melt and crack. The problem is, at night it will all refreeze and beat against the seawall. This constant cycle will damage the seawall over time and cause it to crack, warp, have gaps, and leak. If a seawall is well made with the right material, it will last for many decades but unfortunately you can never predict when nature will decide to ruin those plans. Inspecting the wall is simple, just walk along and inspect for warped metal, gaps, or leaks. If you notice a problem it will need to be fixed immediately before more damage piles up.

There is a way to help combat the damage that ice can throw at a seawall. If you own a bubbler, it will circulate the water throughout the winter never giving it a chance to settle and freeze. This will help protect anything you may have in the water including a dock, lift, or seawall. It is also helpful in the summer time to get rid of debris such as stray logs.

Final Thoughts To Get Rid of Winter

Getting your equipment working with plenty of time to get your boat prepared for the season is the best thing you can do for your future self and your property. While having damaged equipment will not only drive your property value down until it’s fixed, it also sucks to see everyone out on the water having a blast while you’re not able to. It’s best advised to have your equipment inspected by a waterfront professional sometime in the fall to give yourself plenty of time.  Once the schedule fills up for manufacturers and waterfront service shops, it can take weeks or months to get you a new part or get your equipment fixed. So make sure to see if your equipment will need a repair immediately to make sure you can be out there having fun with everyone else. If you feel more comfortable having an expert inspect your dock, feel free to reach out to us here at Deaton’s Waterfront Services. We will send a team out to inspect your equipment for a free quote. As always, feel free to contact us or give us a call at (317) 747-4933.

Things To Keep In Mind When Buying a Waterfront Home

Buying a home on the water is a great investment that will provide great views and hours of fun. However, the process of finding the perfect property is difficult. There are several factors to consider when inspecting a waterfront home. You need to make sure that the waterfront is in good condition, and will fit your needs. Real estate agents have no problem selling someone barely passable marine equipment to make a quick buck. Today we’ll look at a few things to keep in mind to make sure that you aren’t getting duped into buying a home that isn’t the right fit.

Waterfront Home

Factors to Consider When Inspecting A Waterfront Home

The Water

When buying a home on the water, you’ll first want to make sure that you’d like to live on the lake you’re looking at. You’ll want to make sure the water quality is good, the traffic isn’t too crazy, and check to see what the water levels typically are at every year. This step requires the most research but it’s important to see if you are the right fit for the lake community. In housing divisions and coves, it’s a good idea to watch the traffic of the lake during the evening hours. If there’s a lot of boat traffic, it’ll prevent you from having a peaceful evening if that’s what you seek.

To make sure the water is up to your standard, don’t be afraid to take a quick dip to decide. If the water stinks, is very murky, and full of algae you probably wouldn’t to live there. Obviously it’s a lot easier said than done to find the perfect lake, but patience is always key. The main takeaway you’ll need to see no matter the quality of water is the depth. Make sure your water is deep enough for boats to drive through. This is usually around 5′ – 8′. If the water is too shallow you won’t be able to own a dock or boat lift.

The Dock

The main reason someone would want to pay a premium to live on the water is because they want to get out and enjoy it. Part of that equation requires a boat dock, which needs to be in good condition or you’ll spend thousands more to replace it. When looking into a waterfront property, make sure to inspect the dock. Look at the decking, frames, and floats. If the decking is starting to warp, wood is starting to splinter, or nails are sticking out, then the decking will need replaced. Floats are also going to need replaced if they are barely holding a dock above water. Having to replace the decking or re-float the dock is the thing you’ll have to worry the least about as they are small repairs. If the frames are rusted, you’ll need to replace the dock entirely.

The whole point is to make sure you’re not spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house to have to spend thousands more to get on the water. If you find a great house but inspect to see that it has a terrible dock, the price should reflect that. It shouldn’t be the same price as a fully operational waterfront.

The Seawall

The final factor to consider when buying a waterfront home is the shoreline. Over time, water will erode sand and dirt away causing a shoreline to recede. This might not sound like a big problem, but losing land on your property is going to hurt your investment. To help protect your investment, check if the property you are looking at has a seawall. If it does, make sure that the wall is in good condition by looking for gaps or warps. You obviously don’t want to pay full price for a property if the seawall is going to need replaced. There is another form of protection that is cheaper and more natural, rip-rap. By placing stone down along the shoreline, it provides an extra layer of protection to prevent erosion. So if you don’t see a wall but do see a layer of rock, you’ll be OK. For more information about shoreline protection, check out our page here.

Buying a home on the water is a difficult process that you need to be prepared for. If there are times when you feel overwhelmed during the process, just think about the beautiful payoff on the water. Make sure that everything on the property is in working order and in good condition. If you need any equipment inspected, our expert team will do so free of charge and recommend a plan to restore working condition. Feel free to contact us for a free quote, or give us a call at (317) 747-4933.

Winter Waterfront Management: The Ultimate Guide

Winter is upon us and the lakes are frozen. Dock owners that have experience with the winter season are already well prepared and have their equipment safe. But what if you’re a new dock owner coming into your first winter? There is a lot of work to be down to protect your dock, boat, and PWCs. Today we’ll look at the steps needed to protect your investment and keep it as new as the last time you used it.

Winter Effects On Docks

During the winter, snow will accumulate on top of a dock and the water around it will freeze.  This will cause a lot of problems with a dock and other water equipment. Wood on a dock will warp over time from expanding and contracting with the different temperatures. Steel will rust and corrode over time, causing frames to break and cables to snap. All of these problems are going to happen over time whether your take proper steps for winterizing or not. Winterizing your dock is a matter of delaying the inevitable, it all comes down to keeping your annual maintenance costs down low.

If you live in Indiana, or any of the other surrounding states, you’re probably wondering what you should do with your dock in the winter. Our recommendation is to first check with your local waterfront experts by giving us a call for a free consultation. Our advice is better than just going with your gut instinct. However, it’s not hard to determine your best course of action for the winter. Here are some step’s we take to help ensure docks are kept in great condition throughout the winter:

Protect Your Shoreline From Erosion

One thing that gets overlooked when preparing for winter is your shoreline. Ice and snow will melt causing your shoreline to erode over time, so having a barrier will offer a method of preventing erosion. You can either install a seawall or lay down riprap to protect your property.  For more information about shoreline protection, be sure to check out our seawall page here.

Removing a Floating Dock During Winter

A common step for protecting your dock in the winter is to remove it if you have the means to do so. Fixed docks aren’t able to be removed, but they should never be installed in a lake that freezes in the first place because ice and snow can push pilings apart causing frames to warp. So if you own a floating dock, you can schedule your dock to be removed with Deaton’s or do so yourself. It’s recommended to store dock in a dry, flat surface. They can also be stored outside, but make sure you have tarped them off properly to prevent any water from reaching them. It’s a difficult process but it will pay off by preventing unnecessary damage.

Most modern docks won’t need to be removed due to the changes in dock manufacturing over the years. Instead of being all wood based or steel, materials such as composite decking or hot dipped galvanized frames hold up way better under duress. So if your dock is newer, or you own an EZ Dock system, don’t worry about removing your dock. Around the central Indiana region, it’s pretty uncommon to remove your dock for the winter if you live near the lake.

Preventing Ice with a Bubbler

Perhaps the easiest method of protecting your equipment during winter is to install a bubbler under your dock. A bubbler will push warm water underneath your dock up to the surface causing ice and snow to melt and preventing future accumulation.  It will keep everything nice and thawed! Ice won’t be able to form underneath your dock around the floats. A bubbler will protect your frames and keep your dock in the water where it’s supposed to be. There are different levels of power to bubblers to give them a larger circulation radius. For more information about bubblers, check out Kasco’s line here.

If you’re in need of maintenance on your dock due to winter damage, we’re here to help. Our expert team will diagnose any problems and recommend how to repair your equipment to as good as new! For more information, feel free to request a quote or give us a call at (317)747-4933.

The Top 5 Signs To Replace Your Dock

Replacing your dock is never an easy decision to come to. Hearing that your dock will need replaced is like giving it a death sentence. Everyone knows it is much cheaper to repair a dock rather than replace it. There are many cases where a dock can be repaired, but sometimes docks are simply too old and aren’t repairable. Fortunately, modern boat docks are built with the latest techniques to see that they’ll last for decades. Today, we’ll look at the symptoms that your dock isn’t repairable and will need replaced.

When Is It Time to Replace My Dock?

1. Rusted Frames/Supports

For metal docks such as floating or stationary, rust can be a big issue over time. Small holes and cracks in the frame can always be repaired, but when large portions start to rust and break it means there is not much life left. Supports such as pipe driven into the ground can also rust and give out over time, which is also fatal in stationary docks.

2. Warped Frames

Heavy waves and currents can create pressure that will twist and bend frames over time to cause a major warp. Collisions will also warp your frames, and can be caused by boat accidents or large pieces of debris. In cold-weather climates, stationary docks also face a problem with warping. As ice thaws, sometimes the land will shift causing the support beams driven into the ground to also move.

3. Rotten Wood

If your dock is constructed out of wood, once it starts to splinter and rot it is time to replace the dock. While docks with wood decking can simply replace the decking, docks built with wooden frames and supports suffer structure damage once they start to rot.

4. Refurbishing Too Costly

Once a dock gets so old that all the floats need replaced and the entire decking needs redone, it may be a better financial decision to simply replace the dock. While in the short term it may seem less costly, but at some point the frames will wear out which could be sooner than later. So it makes more sense in the long term to replace the dock and worry less about maintenance.

5. Foundation Damage

On fishing piers and boathouses that require a concrete foundation, it is important to regularly inspect the foundation for cracks and damage. Once the pilings start to give out, they are no longer safe to support the dock.

High Quality Docks From Deaton’s Waterfront Services

When the diagnosis has been made that it’s time to replace your dock, Deaton’s Waterfront Service’s has the team of experts that will gladly assist you in designing a high quality dock that perfectly fits your needs. Our docks are built to last using the latest marine construction techniques. If you are interested in replacing your dock, or need our experts to come out for an inspection feel free to contact us or give our office a call at (317) 747-4933.

The Effects Weather Can Have On A Dock

Winter weather is known by many as a dock’s worst enemy. Harsh weather can have catastrophic effects on a dock such as rusted frames, rotten/destroyed decking, broken bolts, and more. Deaton’s Waterfront Services is luckily here to inform all about the negative effects weather will have on a dock, and ways to prevent them.

Factors of Weather That Affect Docks

There are several factors to take into consideration when a new dock is in the design phase. While it is easy to move quickly in the short term of getting a new dock, it could end up becoming very costly long term. Thankfully the experts at Deaton’s have 30 years of experience, and are trained to account for factors such as:

  • Wind Load
  • Snow Load
  • Earth Shifting
  • Sink Holes
  • Ice
  • Temperature
  • Water Fluctuation

These factors should not only be considered for just the dock, but also for any accessories that may go along with it. This includes lifts, PWC ports, launches, slides, ladders, and more. The team at Deaton’s Waterfront Services is equipped to ensure a worry-free installation. This includes anything related to the waterfront: docks, walls, and lifts. Now let’s take a look at how the weather will impact the different types of docks.

Weather Effects on a Floating Dock

Floating docks are better equipped to handle rougher weather, but not by much. The key difference between the two docks’ reaction to weather is that a floating dock will fluctuate with water.  A floating dock is just as susceptible to rotten decking and rusted frames as a stationary dock is. The ways to combat harsh weather in a floating dock is all in the quality of the build. A hot-dipped galvanized steel dock with a weather-resistant decking and thick-shelled floats will handle rough weather a lot better than a wooden dock with cheap floats.

Any floating dock will have a maximum weight capacity. The maximum weight that can be carried or supported will be rated by the buoyancy that is underneath the frame and decking. Typically we like to see at least a buoyancy of #25-95 pounds of live load per square foot. Live load is the optimal buoyancy you can maintain across the square footage of your floating platform that’s on the water. The floats are the largest factor you need to consider, most flotation over time will develop lack of optimal buoyancy. This contributes to the dock losing freeboard. “Freeboard “is the measurement from the water line to the top of the dock. Measured freeboard of a floating boat dock depends on the usage, or watercraft that will be using it. Typical freeboard is from 5”- 40”, Deaton’s Waterfront Services can help you measure the recommended proper freeboard.

Weather Effects on a Stationary Dock

Stationary dock structures are anchored by having poles, pilings, or supports being driven or anchored into the bottom of the lake bottom. This is a nice and stable way for installation that creates a solid platform. The biggest worry to this dock is ice / landshift. If the anchors or pilings settle or get shifted with ice or land movement this will cause the dock to be unlevel, and dangerous to use. There are ways to combat this by using bubblers, water attenuators, or have shoreline stabilization installed. A lot of this can be overcome by doing some core samplings of the soil, and making sure to take the necessary measures.

If the weather affects your dock in any way, or you are interested in designing a new dock feel free to request a quote from us. Our team at Deaton’s Waterfront Services will be happy to help. Give us a call at (317) 747-4933 or stop by our office located at 215 S. Madison St, Fortville, IN 46040.

3 Common Dock Repair Problems and Fixes

Routine dock inspections can help your waterfront investment last long after its installation. When you can catch minor dock repair issues early, you’re protecting yourself from more costly projects down the road. If you aren’t sure what to look for, these common dock repair issues are a good place to start.

Common Dock Repair Issues

Your water fluctuation, build process, and how your dock does in winter all play a role in what kind of repairs your dock might need. Just keep in mind, every dock has its own unique characteristics. Wooden docks will have different concerns than a stationary aluminum dock. Custom floating docks are different still.

1. Dock Deck Splintering

For wood docks, one of the biggest issues we see are that the deck boards start to splinter. Fortunately, this can be a relatively easy fix. You might need to sand down certain sections to prevent further breaks. In other cases, you might need to replace the entire board.

Obviously wood docks don’t last forever, but staying on top of the smaller dock repairs can help it stay sturdy through the upcoming seasons. If you want to avoid these maintenance details, you can always upgrade your dock to composite boards. These materials won’t splinter, plus they still have that natural look with a wood-like texture and design.

2. Dock Frames Rusting

Just as dock boards can splinter, other materials on your dock can have their own issues. Some types of docks can run into problems with their metal parts rusting. That’s why it’s so important to do regular checks for signs of rust around your dock. A quick inspection for rusted frames can help you feel better about your waterfront setup—and keep you safe!

If you see any problems around your dock frames, you’ll probably want to call on a local dock builder or waterfront company to come take a closer look. You might only need to replace a few parts for broken or rusted bolts. Then again, it might be time to upgrade your frame. Rust around your dock means it’s just a matter of time before something gets worse or snaps.

3. Dock Floats Sinking

Dealing with a floating dock means you might need to replace a float here or there over the years. On the bright side, these issues are pretty easy to spot. Noticing a sinking section is usually a clear sign that something is going on underneath your dock.

Reviewing the warranty for your encapsulated dock can help keep your repair costs to a minimum. You should also be able to reach out to your local dock builder to see if they can research that information for you.

Turn to Deaton’s for Dock Repairs!

Whenever you run into problems with these common dock repair questions, you can always count on our crew at Deaton’s Waterfront Services. Some dock repairs are easy to DIY, but others might require a little more expertise. If you give us a call, we can help give you some advice on how to move forward.

We service all types of docks and are always happy to work with you on your repair needs—for both commercial and residential waterfront properties. Let us be your go-to dock company! Send us a message, and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.