Pier & Dock Building or Buying Ideas Wanted

Nice job Chris. It sure looks great.

Wondering if the sections will sag in the middle.

Better late then never, pics as promised:

Took a while to find decent stock at Menards


A little help from My Brother



The stack started to build



Once the boxes were complete moved on to mounting all the hardware. As Joel mentioned the D&H components were great and included everything, the only issue I had was the carriage bolts supplied were about 1" short on the end boards where I had 2x4 ledger board along the 2x6, worked fine everywhere else.


Then it was time to cut the leg posts, purchased (5) 21' sticks of 1.25" ID schedule 40 galvanized pipe from Fergusons (thanks Bret Hectus for the great pricing) and my plumber buddy helped me cut them all down with his 300 machine. Including cutting the threads off each end had about 30 cuts to make.


Then it was just a matter of putting them in, definitely a 2 man job to carry, heavy but not a backbreaker.

Really happy how everything turned out, very sturdy and nice to walk on with the deck boards running along each section instead of across them. The only thing I would have considered doing different is tightening up the gap between the deck boards, 1/2" is ok but 1/8" or 1/4" may have been better.

Added some budget solar lights at most posts, looks great at night but people have a tendency to grab them and of course the plastic fixtures break pretty easily.

We sit and complain about Illinois but there does not seem to be many restrictions

Thanks Bruce-
Well the restrictions are different the quirkiness is much the same. It kind of depends on who is the Lake Steward (Duke Power - Alcoa etc, each have thier own regulations (many of which make little sense).
Here (Badin Lake - Alcoa) you can no longer attach to the "river bottom" more than ~10' from shore - everything has to float - I did not qualify as a grandfathered lot. Also, almost all the lots on the lake you can not cut trees within 10' above full pond elevation. Here I lucked out and can clear to the waters edge.

Joe,
Invite is open. Might try to put together something in October at the Lake but don't let that stop a visit anytime. Like that sandy bottom in your pic's

storm34 wrote: quinner wrote: Wrapped up the Dock Project this weekend, pics coming soon Still holding my breath for these.

Me too!!

Certainly some perks to being located where the water does not freeze. Been there done that no need to repeat.

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Wrapped up the Dock Project this weekend, pics coming soon

JoeinNY wrote: I used the 1.25 pipe and depending on the depth they are ok... if they get longer than 6 ft you might be more wobbly than usual. I paid 223$ with tax for 7 10 footers at the local HEP. So in the same ball park - 3.50 a foot cut to your desired length with no scrap would be ok by me, will be closer to 5 after I cut off the scrap. 200lbs is heavy. I would consider making the deck removeable. I just have to build another 30 ft of removable decking tomorrow and I will have built or refurbished and installed 23 sections of dock this year. It's not that much fun building them after 4 or 5. I am ready to lie down on one and sleep a couple days.

I used rigid galvanized electrical conduit. Very stout and IIRC 10.00 per stick at 10ft from Menards, price seems to have doubled since 2010 I guess, or maybe it was on sale at the time.

http://www.menards.com/main/electrical/rough-electrical/conduit/1-1-4-x10-rigid-conduit/p-1470046-c-6423.htm

Progress report, framed up the 10 sections this weekend, the dock hardware should be here this week and which/where I get the posts is TBD.

In an effort to trim some lbs built the first one using 2x6 decking boards in lieu of 2x6 dimensional, which are 1/4" thinner and also have the nice rolled edges like the 5/4 decking. We tested with 3 of us standing and walking on a completed spanned section and it felt fine so all the rest were built the same way. Not sure the exact finished weight but I can carry 1 by myself and with 1 guy on each end it's quite reasonable.

Hardware is coming from DH Docks, using corner clips throughout which are about 5x5 each face and should add a bit more rigidity once all bolted up.

Sections all look great, running the deck boards the long way feel great to walk on but will make it important the docks go in as a nice straight line.


Now that summer break has begun, going to try and get my daughter to lightly sand and stain the cedar deck boards this week, anybody have a suggestion on a translucent exterior stain??

I used the 1.25 pipe and depending on the depth they are ok... if they get longer than 6 ft you might be more wobbly than usual. I paid 223$ with tax for 7 10 footers at the local HEP. So in the same ball park - 3.50 a foot cut to your desired length with no scrap would be ok by me, will be closer to 5 after I cut off the scrap. 200lbs is heavy. I would consider making the deck removeable. I just have to build another 30 ft of removable decking tomorrow and I will have built or refurbished and installed 23 sections of dock this year. It's not that much fun building them after 4 or 5. I am ready to lie down on one and sleep a couple days.

Chris,
One thing that bothers me is the weight of 200. Remember we are not getting any younger plus, HW may not be around to help you when needed. I can't lift much now like I used to!

I agree with Gary about the 1&1/4 pipe. I see in your material list they are for the 1&1/4 but that's not much. Link these extrusions you are using. I,m familiar with the galv dock parts but not the extrusions.

Flat brackets instead of corners?

Free beer and maybe a pull for this old gimpy guy with some pointers? Thats all it takes here, as long as I have some advance warning.
I have an aluminum Shore Station dock that I like pretty well. It is fairly light and comes apart and adjusts easily, however they are a bit pricy if you need the type of length you are talking about. I think there are other brands that are easier to adjust on the market now.
I built a deck the summer before last and added a guest dock last fall so my guests can tie up and enjoy a refreshment when they visit. (Matt, Peter, don't forget to stop). They lower the water 3-1/2 feet or so for the winter so I waited until then. I had to shovel it two mornings to finish. A treated dock ids cheap at about $15 / ' in materials to construct. It is heavy and doesn't come apart easily though. Whatever you decide LMK if you want a hand.

Shore Station dock, a bit pricy but really easy. This one is ten years old.


This little 20" wood dock ( not stained yet) cost me just under $300 in materials but I had the pipe so I didn't price that in. You could just as easily use treated 4X4 for the posts. 2-2X8 joists with 5/4 inset on 2X4s sistered to the inside of the joists. I inset the legs to eliminate external hardware that could leave a mark and put mooring lines through the deck knotted for retention. 2'9" wide including the joists to get the most out of the 8' 5/4s. It looks odd with the water down. I had to make two trips to the lumber yard with my trailer. I figured the weight of dry treated. It was double that weight. the legs are vertical, the appearance that they are not vertical is an illusion.


Here is what it looks like with the water up. It is very secure and has a nice surface to walk on. This is before I built the deck.