Saving dock from tropical storm/hurricane

[Southernerd]

My dock is on the north shore of Lake George in Florida and we are already in high water conditions. With any type of sustained tropical storm force winds, the place will probably look like the Bering sea. Evidently a lot of folks in the area lost docks during Irma and the advice I was given was to remove every third board of decking so the water can pass through instead of ripping up the pilings. Anyone had any experience with this or have any advice they can offer on how to help protect a dock from surge/wave during a tropical storm/hurricane?

 

[Bruce]

I like the idea of removing horizontal boards but I think I would try for every other board rather than every third.

Big question is how you remove them and do you have time. The screw heads are likely to be sunk into the boards. It might be easier to take a circular saw to cut the boards if you need to do it quickly. Alternately unscrew the screws that you can and drill the heads off of the others.

 

[Southernerd]

I like the idea of removing horizontal boards but I think I would try for every other board rather than every third.

Big question is how you remove them and do you have time. The screw heads are likely to be sunk into the boards. It might be easier to take a circular saw to cut the boards if you need to do it quickly. Alternately unscrew the screws that you can and drill the heads off of the others.

I'm trying to figure out the time issue now. I've got to drive up before I can do anything. I'm charging up all my batteries and I'm going to take my trailer up to load the boards on. I'm not sure I can get it done in a half day, assuming the weather is decent enough for working. I may have to drive up tonight just to be safe.

 

[Bruce]

How large of a dock?

And how well is it insured?

 

[Southernerd]

How large of a dock?

And how well is it insured?

120 feet. My insurance agent says they won't cover it so its not insured.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

We go there quite often, there is a ton of damaged/destroyed docks on the lake and river. Best of luck.

 

[Bruce]

120 feet. My insurance agent says they won't cover it so its not insured.

120 linear feet? That is huge. Probably 120 deck boards to remove with 6 to 12 screws each?

 

[Julian]

If the neighbors recommend it from experience, I'd follow their advice. I'd start by doing every third and keep going to remove as many as you can.

 

[Southernerd]

120 linear feet? That is huge. Probably 120 deck boards to remove with 6 to 12 screws each?

Sounds like a nightmare, right?

 

[Southernerd]

We go there quite often, there is a ton of damaged/destroyed docks on the lake and river. Best of luck.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

 

[Dixemon]

A reciprocating saw (ie. Sawzall) might be a better option depending on how far apart the boards are spaced. Hell, at this point why not just bring a chainsaw to the party? Sucks man, i hate it for everyone in florida right now. best of luck, stay safe.

 

[Julian]

Sounds like a nightmare, right?

If I lived closer I'd come help! Can you find someone in the Home Depot parking lot to hire?

 

[Bruce]

A reciprocating saw (ie. Sawzall) might be a better option

I circular saw set to the depth of the deck boards will cut through them very quickly. Open the guard and let it cut vertically through a board then just slide along horizontally as far as you want to cut.

But please be careful. This is a bad time to get hurt.

 

[GTBRMC]

But please be careful. This is a bad time to get hurt.

Absolutely this!

ERs and urgent cares will be loaded more than normal.

Eye protection (could be unseen / embedded screws or nails hit by saw), heavy leather gloves (or Kevlar cut resistant), care taken emphasized over speed.

You can replace stuff, you won’t get any more fingers or eyes!

Good luck and Godspeed!
(always wanted to say that ?)

 

[TeenGee]

A co-worker once put trash cans filled with water at the piling locations to put weight on the piles and counter the bouncy of the deck.
I don't know how feasible that would be for 150' of dock but it would be a lot quicker to set up and undo.

 

[the MfM]

If you don’t want to cut the boards see if you can find a decking prybar. Box stores should have them under various names but it’s just an angled prybar with a long handle.

makes popping up deck boards easy if you can find one in stock.

 

[Southernerd]

Managed to get it done. Thanks for the advice.

 

[jlcj7]

If you don’t want to cut the boards see if you can find a decking prybar. Box stores should have them under various names but it’s just an angled prybar with a long handle.

makes popping up deck boards easy if you can find one in stock.

View attachment 188778

I used this to replace my 16x16 floating dock boards. Super easy. Couple seconds per board. Highly recommend.

 

[Southernerd]

Dock intact but submerged. I think the storm changing directions and going south of the lake probably saved me a lot of problems.

 

[Ronnie]

Glad to see that you still have a dock and that you did all you could to mitigate the damage and time to rebuild/repair.

I’ve always envied Florida and Georgia for their year round boating environment / weather but the recent storms reminded about the downside. If something like that happened in CA I think for the most part the impacted communities would be screwed by the lack of experience.

Again congrats and good job.